Expat-lah

Why Expat-lah?

Singlish, or Singapore colloquial English, is a localized form of conversational English commonly spoken on the streets of Singapore. Singlish sentences are often peppered with the quintessential ‘lah’, so much so that the term has become a dominant fixture of the colloquial language.

This simple three-letter word can mean affirmation, dismissal, exasperation, or exclamation in different contexts. For example, “No lah, I told you I didn’t do that” conveys exasperation, whereas a short “Ok lah” is an affirmation. Sometimes it can be spontaneous or comic, like, “He is so handsome, how can he be your boyfriend, lah!”

There’s no word quite like it!