heng
Lucky, fortunate, or "phew, that was close".
Definitions
Lucky, fortunate, or "phew, that was close". From Hokkien 幸 (hēng / hēng-ūn — luck, good fortune). Used both as an exclamation on its own ("Heng!" — "thank goodness!") and as an adjective ("damn heng leh", "really heng today"). The most common framing is "wah heng" — "wow, lucky!" — when the speaker has narrowly escaped something bad. The opposite of "suay" (unlucky). One of the warmest, most reflexively-used words in Singapore and Malaysian English, especially after a near miss or unexpected good news.
Wah heng leh, the last bus was just leaving when I ran out.
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Related terms
Semantically related
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(Manglish, Singlish) !, thank goodness.
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(Singapore, Singlish, colloquial, ) unlucky, unfortunate.
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(Singapore, Malaysia, informal) A traditional, festive expression used to wish oneself prosperity.
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Exclamation of surprise, amazement, admiration or general impressed reaction, common across Singaporean, Malaysian and Hong Kong English. Used standalone or as a lead-in: "Wah, so expensive!" "Wah, the view damn nice." Lengthened ("waaah") for stronger emphasis. Often paired with "lah", "leh" or "lao" to colour the reaction — "wah lah eh", "wah lao", "wah seh". Has roots in Hokkien and Cantonese spoken exclamations and is one of the first Singlish markers visiting English speakers pick up.
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(Singapore, Malaysia, informal, intransitive) To prosper.