(Singlish, idiomatic) ; incompetent or having no substance despite appearances, skin-deep; portraying oneself as greater than one actually is; all style and no substance.
(Singlish, idiomatic) ; incompetent or having no substance despite appearances, skin-deep; portraying oneself as greater than one actually is; all style and no substance.
Add your own interpretation of "ho kua bo ho jiak".
Regional slang from around the English-speaking world — British, Australian, Irish, Caribbean, Nigerian, Filipino, AAVE, and the hyphenated-English dialects that make the internet sound local.
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(Singapore, Singlish) , not caring about something, unbothered.
To eat, from Hokkien 食 (chiā̍h). One of the most-used Singlish verbs after "makan", with the same basic meaning but a slightly more casual, Hokkien-flavoured register. Forms many compounds: "jiak chuah" (lazy at school, literally "eat snake"), "jiak liao bee" (a freeloader, literally "one who has eaten the rice"), "jiak buay liao" (cannot finish eating). Used both literally ("jiak already?" — have you eaten?) and figuratively in the compound forms above.
(Singapore, Malaysia, informal, Singlish, idiomatic, intransitive) To make a fuss, to complain or whine excessively, to complain to high heaven.
(Singapore, Malaysia, colloquial, ambitransitive) To leave someone out from an event or activity by not inviting them.
(Singlish, of food, literally) despite having great presentation.