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O$P$ abbrev. of Owe Money, Pay Money.

oa var. of Wa.

OB abbrev. of Off-Beat.

obiang /o-biahng, �ÈbIAN/ a. [origin uncertain, poss. Hk. or < Mal. biang-biut zig-zag, sticking out this way and that (Wilkinson)]  Out of fashion; in a bad or dubious style or taste, esp. ostentatiously so.  See also Off-Beat Cha-Cha.
1991 Valerie Tan The Straits Times (Section 3), 9 August, 19 Obiang, the word that is used to describe people or things that are desperately out of fashion.  2002 Tan Shzr Ee The Straits Times (Life!), 3 June, L6 Tan Dun’s sparkling Concerto For Water Percussion & Orchestra bowls the crowd over; but The Gate is postmodern obiang [subtitle] .. If you want to be rude about it, this was obiang.  2006 Kristina Tom The Sunday Times (LifeStyle), 1 January, L7 [O]ne of the most coveted types of calendars in Singapore dates back to the early 1900s – those tear-off ones traditional Chinese companies used to give away. As you probably know, there are two main versions of this obiang (Hokkien for uncool) calendar: one with monthly tear-off sheets and one with daily ones. .. Obiang or otherwise, if you want these tried-and-true originals, call your gas supplier or swing by Chinese-owned shops and companies..  2006 Michelle Tay (quoting Janice Chng) The Straits Times (Urban) (from Straits Times Interactive), 19 October. Public relations consultant Janice Chng refuses to wear yellow gold because she deems it ‘obiang’ (Hokkien for garish or outdated). She reckons that only people of her mother’s generation would wear it.

oei /ooay, way, uùeI, weI/ int. [< Mand. 喂 wèi]  Used to attract the attention of the person addressed: hello, hey.
2004 ‘Mr Brown’ (Lee Kin Mun) Weekend Today, 24-25 April, 20 My observation is that once you have children, you lose your name. Your name becomes ‘Make the Milk’, ‘Wipe Her Mouth’, and ‘Why Aren’t You Watching Him Look He is Eating Your Handphone’. Sometimes, it is ‘Oei’.

off v. [Eng.]  Of lights, electrical appliances, etc.: switch off, turn off.
¶ Opp. of On v.
2005 Philip Lee The New Paper (from The Electric New Paper), 10 December. .. Singaporeans always say things such as: ‘Have you ‘on’ the air-con?’ or ‘Remember to ‘off’ the fan when you leave.’  2006 The Sunday Times, 30 July, 35 We hear it so often: “Please off your mobile phone/lights/radio/etc.” And we know exactly what to do, even though there is no verb, or “action word”, in the sentence! We know that the missing verb is “switch”: “Please switch off your mobile phone.”

off n. & a. [Eng.]  A n. In full, off in lieu: unrecorded leave granted for work done outside ordinary working hours, given in lieu of overtime pay.  B a. Off duty, not required to work on a particular day.
¶ Opp. of On a.
B 2003 Khoo How Sun Today, 4 December, 44 I suspect it is a peculiarly Singaporean usage in which people claim they are not at work because it is their ‘off day’. .. A check with a good dictionary will show that when one has an off day, one does not seem to do things as well as one usually does. .. Many Singaporeans mean ‘day off’ when they say ‘off day’. In many organisations, you get a day off – invariably unrecorded leave – in lieu of whatever.

off-beat var. of Off-Beat Cha-Cha.

†off-beat cha-cha a. [< Eng. cha-cha a type of ballroom dance to Latin-American rhythm] Also ellipt. off-beat and abbrev. to OB.  Unfashionable.  See also Obiang.
1991 Valerie Tan The Straits Times (Section 3), 9 August, 19 Obiang replaced the 1960s off-beat cha-cha, which was shortened to off-beat in the 70s, and then simply o.b. in the 80s.

old bird n. [Eng. transl. of Hk. lau jiao]  Lau Jiao.
2003 Peh Shing Huei (quoting Gwyn Tan) The Sunday Times, 12 October, 32 The England team need an old bird like [Alan] Shearer to lead.  2005 Chua Hian Hou (quoting ‘Hazie’) The Straits Times (Digital Life), 22 March, 19 At first just joined the forum genna hantam too cos use sms language then the ‘old birds’ can’t stand it so I also got some pretty harsh words lah.

on v. [Eng.]  Of lights, electrical appliances, etc.: turn on, switch on.
¶ Opp. of Off v.
2005 Philip Lee The New Paper (from The Electric New Paper), 10 December. .. Singaporeans always say things such as: ‘Have you ‘on’ the air-con?’ or ‘Remember to ‘off’ the fan when you leave.’

on a. [Eng.]  1 On the Ball.  2 On duty or required to work, esp. on a day when others are Off; spec. (mil. slang) ordered to be on guard duty or to take on extra work as a punishment.  3 Homosexual, gay.
1 1985 Michael Chiang Army Daze 46 On. To be alert and conscientious. Kia su soldiers are usually on.  2001 Michelle Ho (quoting Derrick Ng) The Sunday Times (Sunday Plus), 14 January, P7 We are very on one. Last time we can come to Canto every day.  2 1978 Leong Choon Cheong Youth in the Army 315 you are on. Not to be confused with ‘on’ or ‘on the ball’, ‘You are on’ is a pronouncement of extra duty as punishment.

on charge a. [Eng.]  Of a soldier: having been charged with a specified military offence; being subject to formal disciplinary action.  Compare Put (One) On Charge.
1985 Michael Chiang Army Daze 47 On charge. To be up for punishment.

on the ball v. phr. [Eng.]  Alert, hardworking, enthusiastic.  Freq. shortened to On.
1978 Leong Choon Cheong (quoting Larry Tan) Youth in the Army 172 Previously.. we were on the ball. Now we don’t even bother to book soldiers guilty of minor offences.  310 on, on the ball. A soldier who is on or on the ball is a good one. He is always alert and performs his duties well.  1985 Michael Chiang Army Daze 47 On the ball. To be on; one who never misses a move.  1998 The Straits Times, 28 July, 34 Three [football] clubs not on the ball enough.

on the wrong ball v. phr. [Eng.]  Hardworking and enthusiastic but tending to do the wrong thing.
1985 Michael Chiang Army Daze 47 On the wrong ball. To make the right moves at the wrong time.

onde onde var. of Ondeh Ondeh.

ondeh ondeh /on-day, È�ndeI/ n. [Mal. < Tam. உண்டை uṇṭai ball, globe, sphere; anything round or globular, commonly rather small; food in the shape of a ball; mouthful (Tam. Lex.); compare Jav. onḍé-onḍé a sesame-seed cake with a palm-sugar centre (Horne); Malayalam ഉണട uṇṭa a globular sweetmeat made of rice flour mixed with sugar; round, globular; short in stature but stout; anything spherical, a ball, globe; an orb (Mlm. Lex.); Tulu ಉಂದೆ uṇḍe a ball-shaped confection, usu. made of powdered grain and jaggery or sugar; a sweetmeat; any round or globular object, a lump; a morsel; round, globular; Tulu ಉರುಂದೆ uruṇḍe, ಉರುಂದೆಲ್ uruṇḍelụ round object; ball-like mass (Tulu Lex.); see also Kannada ಉಣಡೆ uṇḍě a round mass or ball of anything (e.g., of raw sugar, tamarind, clay, cowdung, etc.) (Kittel); Kota ഉണഡ് uṇḍ roundness (Mlm. Lex.); ഉണഡയ് uṇḍy round lump of food (Burrow & Emeneau); Telugu ఉండ uṇḍa a lump, ball, pellet; a pill or bolus; round (Brown); Telugu ఉంట unṭa a round earthern ball, a pellet (Percival, Tel. Dict.); Toda ഉണയ് uṇỵ ball, round (Mlm. Lex.)] Also onde onde.  A small sweetened dumpling of sweet potato dough filled with a Gula Melaka syrup and rolled in shredded coconut.
[1955 R.J. Wilkinson A Malay–English Dictionary, vol. 2, 819 Onde-onde: ball-shaped cake; dumpling. Usually a small ball of glutinous-rice-flour (těpong pulut) with palm-sugar inside, the ball being rolled in grated coconut. Described in a riddle: see Gem. Ht. [Kitab Gemala Hikmat] 34. Also (Min. [Minangkabau]) ondeh-ondeh, (Batav. [Batavia]) onde and (Ked. [Kedah]) one-one; (Bali) unde.]  2003 Teo Pau Lin The Sunday Times, 5 October, L41 Onde onde.. The steamed mounds of sweet potato dough with gula melaka filling are so popular, they are snapped up the minute they are made.

one int. [Eng.; poss. < the sentence structure a… one, eg, ‘He’s a careless one.’]  Used for emphasis at the end of sentences.
2000 Patricia Mok The Straits Times (Life!), 14 February, 5 ‘My boyfriends very possessive one. They don’t allow me to wear clothes I want, do things I want,’ she laments.  2000 Kelvin Tong The Straits Times (Life! This Weekend), 28 December, 8 Bluff people one.  2001 Susan Long (quoting Khoo Swee Chiow) The Straits Times, 23 February, H12 Try lah, won’t go wrong one lah.

one kind a. [prob. < Eng. one-of-a-kind] often derog.  One-of-a-kind, unique; spec. of persons: difficult, troublesome, unaccommodating.  Compare Like That.
1978 Leong Choon Cheong Youth in the Army 167 His form master who taught metalwork knew about Larry’s lapses and his group of drug-taking classmates (who were ‘of one kind, a havoc group’).  1991 Wong Kim Hoh The Straits Times, 5 May, at 13 You don’t be so one kind one, can or not?

one-, two-, etc., stripe general n. phr. [Eng.] mil. slang  A lance-corporal, corporal, etc., who behaves as though he is of a higher rank.
1978 Leong Choon Cheong Youth in the Army 310 one-stripe general. A one-stripe general is a LCP [lance-corporal] who is acting above his rank. Similarly, a two-stripe general is a CPL [corporal] who does likewise, and a three-stripe general a SGT [sergeant].

or jian /o jee’en, � dZiùEn/ n. [Hk. 蚝 or oyster + 煎 jian fry in shallow oil; Mand. háojiān]  Orluak.

orang china bukan china /o-rahng chee-nə boo-kahn chee-nə, È�rAN ÈtSiùn« ÈbUkAn ÈtSiùn«/ n. [Mal., a Chinese who is not Chinese: orang a human being; a man or woman; people generally (esp. in the sense of other people), china Chinese; bukan negation, non-existence, no, not (Wilkinson); no, not (implying the alternative) (Winstedt)] Often jocularly abbrev. to OCBC [also an abbrev. for the O(versea-C(hinese B(anking C(orporation, one of the major local banks in Singapore].  1 A person of mixed descent, one of whose parents is Chinese. 2 A Banana.
1 2001 The Straits Times, 6 January, H13 One person said he was proud to call himself an OCBC, or orang china bukan china. His father is Indian and mother, Chinese.  2003 Magdalene Phang Streats, 3 February 35 There’s a rather clever acronym to describe people like me – OCBC, ‘orang China, bukan China’, Malay for ‘Chinese people who aren’t Chinese’. And that’s mainly because, as a Peranakan Chinese, I don’t, as a matter of course, speak a Chinese dialect, save for smatterings of Hokkien, enough to order my favourite hawker food.

or-bi-good /o bee good, � biù gUd/ int. [origin uncertain; perh. < Eng. very good] nursery  Used when a person has received what he or she deserves, or his or her come-uppance.
2004 Colin Goh The Sunday Times (LifeStyle), 17 October, L14 One is, of course, tempted to crook one’s arm at the elbow and make a flapping action while saying “or-bi-good” in satisfaction..

ORD /oh ahr dee, aU Aùr diù/ n. & v. [abbrev. for o(perationally r(eady d(ate]  A n. mil.  Date on which national servicemen complete their two (or formerly two-and-a-half) years of full-time national service.  Known prior to 1 January 1994 as ROD.  B v. 1 Complete serving full-time national service.  2 Complete any (unpleasant) course of activity.

[1994 Dr Lee Boon Yang (Minister for Defence) Parliamentary Debates: Official Report, 31 October, vol. 63, col. 638 The [Enlistment (Amendment)] Bill seeks to change the terms “reservist” and “reserve service” in the Enlistment Act, the Singapore Armed Forces Act, the Civil Defence Act and the Income Tax Act. Our “operationally ready national servicemen” formerly known as “reservists” prior to 1st January 1994 form an integral part of the Singapore Armed Forces. They make up 80% of the SAF troops’ strength. They are our frontline troops to be mobilised immediately in the event of an external threat. They will fight shoulder-to-shoulder with the full-time national servicemen and regulars in the defence of Singapore. The terms “operationally ready national serviceman” and “operationally ready national service” more accurately describe the contributions made by these valiant young Singaporeans. On 25th August 1994, the Deputy Prime Minister had already moved the Second Reading, and this House had agreed to the amendment to Article 128(2b)(ii), of the Constitution to change the terms “reservists” and “reserve service” to “operationally ready national servicemen” and “operationally ready national service” respectively. These terms in the Enlistment Act and the SAF Act will have to be similarly amended.  2001 Enlistment Act (Chapter 93, 2001 Rev. Ed.), s. 14(1)(a) Operationally ready national service liability. .. Every person who is liable for operationally ready national service shall report for service, in accordance with this Act, whenever he is required to do so by the proper authority on the date and at the time appointed by the proper authority for him to report for operationally ready national service..]

A 1999 Matthias Yao Chih (Minister of State, Ministry of Defence) Parliamentary Debates: Official Report, 10 March, vol. 70, cols. 378–379 .. MINDEF has a financial assistance scheme to help needy full-time National Servicemen. Under the scheme, the needy full-time National Servicemen may be given a grant of up to $200 per month. If this sum is insufficient, he can apply for further assistance in the form of an interest-free loan through his unit’s manpower officer. The loan is repayable by instalments, starting three months after his operationally ready date (ORD).  2004 Rear Admiral Teo Chee Hean (Minister for Defence) Parliamentary Debates: Official Report, 15 June, vol. 78, col. 55 Full-time National Servicemen who are currently serving their 2½ years of service will get up to a two-month cut in service duration. I said “up to a two-month cut” because the earliest date that the ORD for these in-service National Servicemen can be brought forward to will be 30th June 2004, to allow time for the units to do their administrative out-processing arrangements.  B 2 2005 Hong Xinyi The Sunday Times (from Straits Times Interactive), 19 June. ORD-ohhhh. Army use: The end to national service is known as ORD (short for Operationally Ready Date). ORD-ohhhh is what soldiers shout out upon passing out of NS. Civilian use: Commonly howled when a guy graduates from university or switches jobs. Example: I survived four years of boring tutorials! ORD-ohhhh!

orgy n. [Eng.]  1 A big mess.  2 A large, noisy group of people.  Also mass orgy.

orh nee var. of Orni.

orluak /o-luahk, �ÈlUAk/ n. [Hk. 蚝 or oyster +卵  luak egg (?); Mand. háoluǎn] Also or luak.  A Chinese omelette made with eggs and oysters.  Also known as or jian.
2001 Angela Ee The Sunday Times (Sunday Plus), 25 February, P11 Miles away from home, I dream of orluak – eggs crisped around the edges by lard, softened by gooey flour and smooth blobs of oysters.  2004 Judi Low Streats, 23 April, 52 [T]hat popular oyster omelette or luak.  2006 Teo Pau Lin (quoting Soh Gim Teik) The Sunday Times (from Straits Times Interactive), 12 March. I always order the oh luak (oyster omelette). I don’t know what the name of the stall is, but it’s cooked by this old woman. She does it nice and soft, not too crispy, which is how I like it.

orni /o-nee, �Èniù/ n. [Hk.; or Teo. 芋 ou⁷ the yam, a perennial herbaceous plant with leaves somewhat in the shape of a halberd (a weapon consisting of a long handle ending in a combined spearhead and battleaxe) and an edible underground stem + 泥 ni⁵ somthing resembling mud (Chaozhou Dict.); Mand. yù yam + ní mud, mire; mashed vegetable or fruit (Chi.–Eng. Dict.)] Also orh nee.  A Hokkien or Teochew hot dessert made of yam, pumpkin, etc., ground into a paste, mixed with oil and sweetened.
2003 Sam Chua Weekend Today, 10–11 January, 34 For dessert, order the smooth and creamy orni (yam paste) made with top quality yam, pumpkin, gingko nuts and water chestnuts..  2006 The Straits Times (National Day Supplement), 9 August, 17 TOP 10 SINGAPORE DESSERTS.. 3 Orh nee (Teochew yam paste)  2007 Teo Pau Lin (quoting Sim Ee Waun) The Sunday Times (LifeStyle), 6 August, L28 What is your guilty pleasure food? / Teochew oh nee (yam paste dessert)..

OT n. & v. /oh-tee, «UÈtiù/ [abbrev. of Eng. (o)ver(t)ime]  A n. Work done beyond normal working hours, overtime work.  B v. Work beyond normal working hours, work overtime.

otah-otah, otah var. of Otak-Otak.

otak-otak /oh-tahk, «UÈtAk/ n. [Mal., origin unkn.] Also ellipt. otak; otah-otah, otah.  A small, flat strip of meat paste (usu. fish) wrapped in a banana-leaf strip and roasted.
[1955 R.J. Wilkinson A Malay–English Dictionary, vol. 2, 822 Otak-otak: a special dish, minced fish or stuffed duck served up whole or held together by a wrapper of nipah-leaf.  1963 Richard Winstedt An Unabridged Malay–English Dictionary 250 o.-o. [otak-otak] fish or prawns baked in palm-leaf packets and spiced with candlenut, chillies, coriander, citronella bulbs, coconut, onion, tamarind juice, turmeric, pepper and fish-paste (bělachan).]  2000 Wong Ah Yoke The Sunday Times (Sunday Plus), 9 January, 8 You do find otah otah and even roll-it-yourself popiah.. And how about the otah itself? At $8 a serving.. it was not cheap.  2000 Sylvia Lim The Sunday Times (Sunday Plus), 13 February, 7 The coconut rice would be eaten.. with kangkong sambal, otak-otak, ikan bilis sambal and cucumber.  2001 David Kraal The Straits Times (Life!), 20 February, L6 Otak-otak, char siew, babi pangang and roast duck were bought from secret stalls that produce only the best.  2006 Thng Lay Teen The Sunday Times (LifeStyle) (from Straits Times Interactive), 17 September. On some Saturday mornings, I head for a little vegetable garden in Bishan Park to buy greens as well as banana leaves to make otak.

otang /oh-tahng, ÈotAN/ v. [< Mal. utang arch., hutang debt, money due, obligation (Wilkinson, Winstedt); or < Jav. otang, var. of utang a debt; a loan, credit; in debt; to borrow habitually; to sell something on credit (Horne)] Owe (a debt, money, a piece of work, etc.).
2006 Colin Goh The Sunday Times (from Straits Times Interactive), 12 February. [F]retting over how much you now hutang (Malay for ‘owe’) Messrs Visa and MasterCard.

outside food n. [Eng.]  Food that has been purchased, not from a particular restaurant or other eating place that one is patronizing, but from elsewhere. Eateries in Singapore often frown upon their customers bringing outside food and beverages on to their premises.
2006 Melissa Sim The Sunday Times (from Straits Times Interactive), 24 September. ‘Outside food’: Eateries mostly go easy on kids [title] A customer who walks into Jack’s Place with ‘outside food’ can expect the staff there to suggest that the food be transferred on to a plate. The reason: So that other diners would not notice that the food was not from its outlet. Another restaurant Blue Ginger said it would seat the customer at a table where his ‘outside food’ would not be noticed. These two restaurants were among 10 which took a flexibile [sic] view when asked about their rules on diners who bring food bought elsewhere into their premises. The issue of whether diners can take ‘outside food and drinks’ into restaurants became a talking point.. after a restaurant in Upper Thomson Road ejected a customer whose children had taken a drink into the restaurant.

owa peya som /oh-wah pay-yah sohm, «UÈwA peIÈjA s�m/ n. [Mal. (?)]  A children’s game similar to Long Chiam Pas.

owe money, pay money v. phr. [Eng. transl. of Mand. 欠钱环钱 qiàn qián huán qián: qiàn owe, be behind with, qián money, huán give back, return; repay (Chi.–Eng. Dict.); or cognates in other Chi. dialects] Usu. abbrev. to O$P$.  Freq. scrawled by Ah Longs (loan sharks) on walls, etc., to threaten their clients into repaying borrowed money with interest.
2006 Elena Chong The Straits Times (Home), 9 August, H1 On Feb 26, his neighbour.. began suffering the usual treatment loan sharks give to clients who default on loans: He returned home that day and found his unit number, “O$P$” and a cellphone number scrawled with a black marker outside his flat. “O$P$” is loan shark shorthand for “Owe money, pay money”.  2006 Faith Teo The New Paper, 26 December, 10 [W]hen they don’t pay up, some debtors end up settling their debts by becoming runners themselves. As runners, it’s not just to scribble “O$P$” on walls and lock grilles with bicycle chains. They sometimes even have to hand over their bank account number. The syndicates then use the account to collect money from other debtors and to bounce money around to avoid being traced.

own time, own target n. phr. [Eng., f. a verbal instruction given during live-firing practice sessions that soldiers may commence firing at their targets when ready] mil. slang  Describes a situation where one may do something at one’s own discretion or leisure.
2005 Hong Xinyi The Sunday Times (from Straits Times Interactive), 19 June. Own time, own target. Army use: To perform a task at one’s own leisure or by using one’s discretion. Civilian use: Ditto. Example: This assignment doesn’t have an urgent deadline, so own time, own target.

ownself pron. [Eng. own + self, or poss. < Eng. ownself, long arch. & dial.]  In I/my, you/your, he/his, she/her, they/their ownself: myself, yourself, himself, herself, themselves.
1991 Valerie Tan The Straits Times (Section 3), 9 August, 19 your… ownself – ‘own’ added for emphasis.