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ta pau /tah pow, tA paU/ v. phr. [Cant. 打 tá to beat, to hit, to strike; an auxiliary verb in the sense of to make, to do, to cause + 包 páu to enclose, to contain, to hold, to wrap up (Eitel); Mand. dă gather in, collect, reap + bāo bundle, package, pack, packet, parcel (Chi.–Eng. Dict.)]  Pack a meal to take along with oneself rather than to consume it at an eating establishment; have a meal to go, take away, take out.
2000 Dennis Wee with Sylvia Fong Making Luck with Your Hands 73 I tar pau a packet of nasi lemak home for dinner.  2004 Philip Lee Streats, 23 April, 22 I have never done any ‘tah pow’ (packing) at such functions.. [E]ven at home parties in Singapore when food is served buffet style, the hosts often ask guests if they want to ‘tah pow’ the leftovers. To ‘tah pow’ food home is a way of life here, a part of our culture. I do not find anything reprehensible about it.  2004 Sharlene Tan (quoting Russel Wong) Streats, 29 December, 6 The last meal I had with Jackie (Chan) was laksa and chicken rice ‘ta pao’ from Newton Circus or some place. We ate it off the coffee table..  2006 Teo Pau Lin (quoting Robert Godley) The Sunday Times (LifeStyle) (from Straits Times Interactive), 25 June. When my wife gave birth to the girls at Mount Elizabeth Hospital, she made me go there to tapow (take away) food.

tactical movement [Eng.] mil. slang.  An action or activity carried out by a soldier designed to create a good impression on a superior.
1978 Leong Choon Cheong Youth in the Army 313 tactical movement. Action deployed and directed by an officer towards creating a good impression on his superiors who are able to have a say or even to decide on his future in the Army. (An instance is the tea-pouring competition.)

tahan /tah-hahn, ÈtAhAn/ v. [Mal., holding out against, sustaining; compare bertahan hold out, endure]  Endure, hold out.
1987 Toh Paik Choo On the Buses 16 Those of us who cannot tahan germs and sweat smell. 2000 Karamjit Kaur The Straits Times, 15 February, 44 How to tahan (last) until lunch?  2000 Leong Ching The Straits Times (Life!), 26 October, 4 Sure cannot tahan.  2005 Val Chua (quoting Gerard Ee) Today, 9 December, 1 Sure, 6 to 7 years, we can tahan (withstand) for a while..

tahil /tah-hil, ÈtAhIl/ n. [Mal.; > Eng. tael] hist.  A unit of weight, one-sixteenth of a Kati, which is equal to the Chinese 两 liǎng and fixed by treaty for commercial purposes at 1⅓ oz. avoirdupois (about 37.799364 grammes).
1902 Encyclopædia Britannica, vol. 33, 813/1 Tahil.. Straits Settlements 1¼ oz. av. = 10 chee = 100 hoon.  [1955 R.J. Wilkinson A Malay–English Dictionary, vol. 2, 1149 tahil. A measure of weight known widely. Best known as the Chinese «tael» (i.e. 579.84 grains of silver or nearly the weight of a dollar and a half). But the word is not Chinese; see mas, saga. In Malaya there are two «taels»: (i) the Chinese tael for weighing opium = 10 chi or 100 hun; and (ii) the gold tahil (known also as bongkal), = 16 mayam and representing the weight of two Spanish dollars. In Java = 16 mas.]  1947 Richard Olaf Winstedt The Malays, ch. 6, 112 Soon after the founding of Malacca Chinese annals under 1416 record.. that, ‘tin.. is cast into small blocks weighing 1 kati 8 tahil or 1 kati 4 tahil official weight... They use these pieces of tin instead of money.’  [1963 Richard Winstedt An Unabridged Malay–English Dictionary 346 tahil, 1⅓ oz. (gold weight); Ch. [Chinese], weight for opium = 10 chi.]  1970 Metrication Act 1970 (No. 52 of 1970), s. 5(b). Conversion of imperial standard units to metric system units. The values expressed in terms of .. the local customary system of weights and measures, may be converted into the values expressed in terms of the International System of Units in accordance with Schedule C. .. Schedule C .. Conversion of Local Customary Units to Equivalent SI Units .. 1 tahil = 37.799364 grammes approximately  1972 The Straits Times, 25 November, 15/1 The gold bars, weighing 15 katis seven tahils.

tai chi /tı chee, tÃI tSiù/ n. [< Mand. 太极拳 tàijí quán a kind of traditional Chinese shadow boxing: tài highest, greatest + jí the utmost point, extreme + quán fist]  Pass a duty, job, task, etc., or shift blame, to another person.
1991 Ken Lou The Straits Times, 9 October, 4 Taiji is the Chinese art of shadow boxing. But the expression, to practise shadow boxing, means shifting the blame to someone else.

tai tai /tı tı, tÃI tÃI/ n. [Mand. 太太 tàitai mistress of a household, madam, lady]  A woman, usu. wealthy, who does not work but spends her time shopping, meeting friends, etc.; a lady of leisure.
2000 Elisabeth Gwee The Sunday Times (Sunday Plus), 9 April, 15 Loyal following of tai tais and fashion victims. 2000 Yeow Kai Chai The Sunday Times (Sunday Plus), 2 July, 5 His regular tai-tai clientele.  2000 Ong Sor Fen The Straits Times (Life!), 12 September, 4 Grace’s ditzy, bitchy tai tai secretary.  2001 Cat Ong (quoting Bernie Chan) The Sunday Times (Sunday Plus), 14 January, P19 Now I prefer to wear Prada, but bought at half-price, second-hand from my tai tai friends.  2001 Suzanne Sng The Sunday Times (Sunday Plus), 22 April, P3 The tai tai, the well-heeled housewife who has plenty of time – and money – on her ring-encrusted hands.

tair /tair, taïə(ɹ)/ a. [Hk.]  In the habit of exhibiting childish, coquettish behaviour to elicit attention.

tak jalan /tahk jah-lahn, tAk ÈdZAlAn/ a. phr. [Mal. tak, ta’ = tidak no, not (Wilkinson, Winstedt) + jalan movement in a definite direction]  Of comments, proposals, suggestions, etc., made to someone: be ignored or turned down, have no effect.
1978 Leong Choon Cheong Youth in the Army 313 tak jalan. Of Malay origin meaning ‘cannot move’. One’s complaints, suggestions or recommendations are said to tak jalan when their submission upwards is met with no response, or (worse) with rebuff, from the top. Such communication blockage is inevitable in a massive and rigid hierarchical organisation as the Army’s.

take v. [Eng.] mil. slang  In take one, two, etc.: perform a specified number of duties or jobs as punishment.
1978 Leong Choon Cheong Youth in the Army 313 take. Just as ‘to drop’ so many is to do many push-ups as punishment, ‘to take’ so many is to do so many extra guard duties, or other forms of duty, as punishment.  1985 Michael Chiang Army Daze 51 Take. Usually followed by a number. If a soldier is told to take seven, it means he has to do seven duties.

take cover v. phr. [< Eng. cover n. that which serves for shelter or concealment, shelter, hiding-place] mil. slang  Hide, lie low, skive; spec. avoid duty or work, avoid meeting one’s superiors. Compare Chia Chua, Keng, Snake, Tuang.
1978 Leong Choon Cheong Youth in the Army 313 take cover. To go into hiding; to avoid duty and escape training. See ‘chiah chua’, ‘skive’.  1985 Michael Chiang Army Daze 51 Take cover. To hide.  1994 C.S. Chong NS: An Air-Level Story 83 It was no surprise that the ‘take-cover’ mood filled the air the whole day.  2005 Elena Chong The Straits Times, 30 March, H8 AWOL man ‘takes cover’ – in jail.. For almost a month, Raja Izzuwin hid from civil defence officers who were looking for him – by “taking cover” in prison.

talc n. [Eng., origin unkn.; poss. < talc mica, a crystalline mineral which can be used as a glass substitute] Also telt. mil.  In full, talc sheet: a clear plastic sheet on which map overlays are drawn.
198? Bernard Peh Chin Ann “A Soldier’s Story” Pioneer 13 We knew that the reality of a marked arrow on a plastic talc at Headquarters meant hours of cross terrain bashing.  2002 Koh Boon Pin & Lee Geok Boi Shoulder to Shoulder 26 Change the exercise telt sheet.

talk cock v. phr. [Eng. < cock-and-bull story a fictitious narrative, or U.S. slang poppycock nonsense, ‘rubbish’, ‘humbug’]  1 Talk rubbish, spout nonsense, make an unfounded statement.  2 Engage in chit-chat or small talk.
1 1937 Cecil Day Lewis Starting Point 52 ‘If I hadn’t let Mackenzie through that time, we’d have won.’ ‘Don’t talk cock. You played a damned good game.’  1985 Michael Chiang Army Daze 31 talking cock .. The expression can also be used as an admonishment. ‘Don’t talk cock!’ is an appropriate response to a trainee’s suggestion that guard duty be extended to officers.  2 1978 Leong Choon Cheong Youth in the Army 313 talk cock. ‘Talking cock’ is talking rubbish or talking about anything under the sun. This is an activity carried out during the soldier’s spare time or when he is shining boots. It can be enjoyable and much frustration is worked away through displacement, fantasy and rationalisation during a ‘talk cock’ session.  1985 Michael Chiang Army Daze 31 A favourite pastime in the army is talking cock. .. It merely means getting together after training or during breaks to talk rubbish.  2006 Neil Humphreys Final Notes from a Great Island 10 The intricacies of Singlish were as confusing as they were entertaining. I was alarmed by how comfortable local men were discussing their reproductive organ. I can vividly recall David saying, “That guy likes to talk cock.” Does he now? The dirty old bastard. And I thought Singapore was a conservative society. .. [E]veryone “talks cock” in Singapore now.

Phrase: talk cock sing song.

tambi, tamby /tum-bee, ÈtÃmbiù/ n. [Tam. தம்பி tampi younger brother; younger male cousin who is the son of a paternal uncle or maternal aunt; term of endearment applied to a younger male (Tam. Lex.)] rare and poss. derog.  1 A young male Tamil.  2 An office-boy, an errand-boy or messenger working in an office (formerly a position often filled by a young Tamil boy or man).
[1955 R.J. Wilkinson A Malay–English Dictionary, vol. 2, 1158 tambi. [Tam[il]; = «younger brother»] «Boy», as a term used when addressing young Tamils; whence it has come to mean «messenger, errand-boy» (not usually «house-boy») and sometimes even any young Tamil, cf. (Panj. Sg. [Shaer Panji Sumirang (manuscript, Cambridge; since lithographed, Singapore)]), Bapa’-mu orang tiada běrtěntu / Tambi dan China di-pasar batu: And none can say whose son you are, – / Some Kling’s or Chink’s from the bazaar.  1963 Richard Winstedt An Unabridged Malay–English Dictionary 349 tambi, Tam[il] (= younger brother) errand-boy, messenger.]

tang hoon /tahng hoon, tAN huùn/ n. [Hk. 冬 tang + 粉 hwún rice flour, any kind of powder (Medhurst); Mand. dōng winter + fěn noodles or vermicelli made from bean or sweet potato starch (Chi.–Eng. Dict.)]  A transparent form of rice vermicelli.  Also known as glass noodles.
2006 Low Shi Ping Weekend Today, 9–10 December, 29 Our last dish was the dried tang hoon, or vermicelli noodles.. The noodles were fried with prawns, chicken, egg and leafy greens.

tang kee /tahng kee, tAN kiù/ n. [Hk.; according to Gwee, Mand. 童 tóng child; virgin; bare, bald + 乩 jī to divine by means of a stick writing upon sand; planchette (Giles); compare 扶乩 fújī to write in sand with a stick which is held by two blindfold persons and is supposed to be guided by spirits this is a common method of fortune-telling in China, usu. practised at a temple (Giles); a traditional form of divination whereby the spirit, when involved, writes characters on a sand pan by means of a stick attached to a horizontal piece supported by two persons serving as mediums (Lin); planchette writing (Chi.–Eng. Dict.), that is, writing produced using a planchette, a small board supported by castors and fitted with a writing implement held vertically which, when one or more people rest their fingers on the board, is said to trace out messages without conscious human direction (OED); 请乩 qǐngjī to invite the spirits to disclose events; this is done by making offerings upon the altar, and burning a paper with the question required to be answered written upon it (Giles)] Also tang ki.  A Taoist spirit medium.
1978 Leong Choon Cheong Youth in the Army 55 Poh Lan, though less intelligent, is more persevering: she has formed the habit of studying from afternoon till midnight or 1 a.m. before every examination. And on a number of occasions, she broke down into tears because she was afraid she would forget what she had learnt. Her mother would then “consult” the gods and Poh Lan would then be treated with the tanki’s (medium’s) prescription. ..  61 Noticing that she was not herself, her mother went to the temple to consult the gods. This she did through a medium (tanki) whose unintelligible mutterings, alleged to be the lispings of the gods, were rendered coherent for the benefit of mortals by the tanki’s assistant who then issued a piece of holy paper on which were scribbled some Chinese characters. This piece of paper Poh Hock’s mother brought back and burnt, then soaked the ashes in a cup of water. Poh Lan drank the water.  2004 Clarissa Oon (quoting Margaret Chan) The Straits Times, 15 September, L3 [S]he is now an expert on Taoist rituals such as the tang kee (spirit mediums) and lion dances. .. Before a ritual in a temple, .. a tang kee behaves like any ordinary person.. Once in trance, however, ‘there is another mind controlling him’. His eyes may roll, and he speaks in a different voice, usually a falsetto. Among other things, the medium experiences pain – but does not show it – when he skewers himself. .. [T]he tang kee takes on the spirit of that weapon to arm himself and protect his people.  [2006 William Gwee Thian Hock A Baba Malay Dictionary 192 tang ki [童乩] spirit medium]  2006 Zakir Hussain & Sim Chi Yin The Straits Times (from Straits Times Interactive), 18 February. Mr Liew [Kai Khiun], who has written about local trade unionists and naval dockyard workers, sees his role as that of a ‘tang kee’ (Hokkien for spirit medium), ‘bringing back forgotten voices of the past in order for the present to remember’.  2006 Tan Hsueh Yun The Sunday Times (from Straits Times Interactive), 25 June. For her thesis, she chose to research the ancient practice of tang-ki or Chinese spirit worship. Over three years, she made trips back home to Singapore and also to China, Taiwan, Malaysia and Thailand, speaking to these mediums, watching them pierce their cheeks with fluorescent light tubes while in a trance.

tang ku /tahng kuu, dang guu, tAN kuù, dAN guù/ int. [Hk. 等 tang wait + 久 ku long; Mand. děng jiŭ]  An exclamation expr. disbelief or skepticism, in the sense that something is so unlikely that one must wait a long time before it will happen; pigs will fly; when hell freezes over.

tang oh /tahng oh, tAN «U/ n. [Hk.; Mand. 茼蒿 tónghāo crown-daisy chrysanthemum (Chi.–Eng. Dict.)]  Chrysanthemum coronairum var. spatiosum, an annual plant with strong-flavoured, broadly-serrated leaves which is eaten as a vegetable; crown-daisy, garland chrysanthemum.
¶ Known in Cant. as t‘ung mo (see quot. 1991).
1991 Kok Poh Tin et. al. A Guide to Common Vegetables 24–25 Chrysanthemum coronairum L. var. spatiosum Bailey (Compositae) Garland chrysanthemum.. tang-oh.. An annual eaten at the seedling stage when it is not more than 20 cm high. Leaves are succulent with a light silvery tinge and broadly serrated edges. .. The tender shoots are eaten as cooked vegetable or in soups. Its rather pungent smell, however, does not appeal to many people. But it is known to be rich in vitamin A.  2006 Sylvia Tan The Straits Times (Mind Your Body) (from Straits Times Interactive), 6 September. I have at times tossed in green vegetables such as tang orr (garland chrysanthemum) or bok choy, which we seldom look upon as salad vegetables, into the bowl as long as they are young and tender.

tang shui /tahng shuui, tAN SUI/ n. [Mand. 糖水 tángshuǐ syrup: táng sugar + shuǐ water, liquid; or cognates in other Chi. dialects]  A general term for a Chinese dessert consisting of sweet potato, yam or other vegetables or fruits in a sweetened syrup, or ground into a smooth paste.
2003 Teo Pau Lin The Sunday Times, 5 October, L42 Tang shui..  Whether it is peanut cream, sesame cream or almond cream, the quality of this stall’s Cantonese desserts shows. For over 30 years, the stall has produced a creamy texture of unrivalled smoothness, thanks to an antiquated granite grinder that the owner still uses.

tang yuan /tahng yuuan, tAN jUan/ n. [Mand. 汤圆 tāngyuán: tāng soup, broth + yuán round, circular, spherical]  1 Spherical boiled dumplings made of white or coloured glutinous rice flour, which are traditionally plain but now commonly stuffed with a sweet or savoury filling, and served in soup.  2 A Chinese dessert consisting of tang yuan dumpings, traditionally plain but now commonly filled with Tau Sar, crushed peanuts or other ingredients, and served in a clear sweetened soup or in soya bean milk.
¶ The dessert, and savoury versions in which the tang yuan are stuffed with meat, are traditionally made and eaten during the Winter Solstice Festival [Mand. 冬至 Dōngzhì Extreme Winter: dōng winter + zhì extremely, most] which falls on 21 or 22 December of the Gregorian calendar, apparently because tang sounds like 团 tuán [Mand., rally, unite, conglomerate] and yuan signifies 圆(满 yuán (mǎn) [Mand., satisfactory, perfect: mǎn completely, entirely, perfectly (Comp. Chi.–Eng. Dict.)] (see quot. December 2006).
2005 Wong Ah Yoke The Sunday Times (from Straits Times Interactive), 2 October. Another signature dish, the dessert of glutinous rice balls with salted egg yolk and candied winter melon, is an updated tang yuan with an original filling that stands out from the usual lotus seed and black sesame paste.  2006 Lim Wei Chean The Straits Times (from Straits Times Interactive), 12 October. Traditional Hokkien dishes such as fried tang yuan in soup, kong ba pau or meat-filled buns, rice dumplings and special rice vermicelli will be on sale.  2006 Thng Lay Teen The Sunday Times (LifeStyle), 17 December, L30 Whenever Dong Zhi, or the Winter Solstice festival, comes around, I’m reminded of the fun I had as a child helping my sister knead glutinous rice flour dough to make tang yuan, or glutinous rice balls. We would throw the balls – some mixed with pink food colouring – into a pot of boiling water and wait eagerly for them to float once they were cooked. The best part, of course, was eating the balls soaked in a hot brown syrup that had been boiled with a few slices of old ginger and pandan leaves. The sweetness of the syrup lifted the simple tang yuan. Traditionally, Dong Zhi, which coincides with the winter solstice and falls on Dec 22 every year, is the time Chinese families gather to celebrate the past year. Tang yuan is eaten to signify unity and harmony within the family. Tang, meaning soup, sounds like tuan, which means reunion, while yuan, which means round, signifies yuan man, or complete. Hence, tang yuan symbolises tuan yuan (family reunion). Not many people I know mark this thanksgiving festival of the Chinese calendar these days, much less make the tang yuan themselves. The balls are now available in supermarkets and hawker centres and are eaten all year round. They come with all kinds of filling – groundnut, red bean paste, lotus seed paste, black sesame and yam paste. They can also be served in peanut soup instead of syrup.  2006 Teo Pau Lin (quoting Benjamin Seck) The Sunday Times (LifeStyle), 31 December, L28 Favourite hawker stall? / The tang yuan (glutinous rice balls) stall in Block 85 Bedok North Street 4, and Lei Garden in Chijmes. These two serve the best versions becaue they’re soft and the rice texture is so fine.

tankee /tang-kee, ÈtaNkiù/ n. [Eng. tank + –ee] mil.  A member of a tank crew.
1981 Martin Choo (ed.) The Singapore Armed Forces 63 Success on the modern battlefield cannot be achieved solely with the ‘tankee’ viewing enemy tanks as his private piece of the action.. 1991 Domonic Nathan The Straits Times, 9 August, 3 Now in their seventh year of reserve training, the tank crew, or ‘tankees’ as they are dubbed, went about their duties of getting equipped and ready for deployment in a business-like, professional manner.

tat giu /taht giuu, tAt gjuù/ n. [Hk. 踢 tat kick + 球 giu ball; Mand. tīqíu]  Milo, a chocolate-flavoured milk drink: see Milo dinosaur.
2004 Karl Ho The Sunday Times (LifeStyle), 13 June, L6 Tat giu: Hokkien for ‘kicking ball’. Refers to Milo. Milo tins have images of different sports, such as football, embossed on them.  2006 Serene Luo The Straits Times (Digital Life), 8 August, 3 I know the difference between teh, teh-O, teh-C, teh-peng, teh-O-peng, kopi-gau, kopi-siew-tai, kopi-chino, milo-dinosaur, milo-godzilla, ta-chiu, and I have drunk and loved them all.

tau /dow, daU/ n. [Cant. 豆 tau legumes (Eitel), Hk. taoù (Medhurst); Mand. dòu]  A legume, pulse, bean or pea; spec. the soybean or soya bean (Glycine maximus). Commonly used in the following combinations.

Comb.:

tau cheoh /chioh, tSI«U/ n. [Hk. 浆 cheoh paste, sauce; Mand. dòujiàng] Also taucheo.  Fermented soya bean paste, used in Chinese cooking.
2001 Sylvia Lim The Sunday Times (Sunday Plus), 4 February, P7 Add 2 Tbs brown soya bean paste (tau cheoh) to brown as well.  2006 Cheong Suk-Wai The Sunday Times (LifeStyle), 6 August, L12 [S]lice them and saute them with oyster sauce, taucheo (yellow bean sauce), nutmeg and Thai chilli flakes for a quirky kick.  2006 Sylvia Tan The Straits Times (Mind Your Body) (from Straits Times Interactive), 6 October. [T]he nonyas have a dish called chap chye bulat where they braise the whole cabbage in a soya bean paste (tau cheow) stock together with dried soya bean products, black mushrooms and fungus.  2006 Teo Pau Lin (quoting Benjamin Seck) The Sunday Times (LifeStyle), 31 December, L28 I also do.. crayfish sambal with taucheo (fermented soy beans). .. Peranakans come from the Hokkien and Teochew dialect groups. My family is Teochew, so you can see the use of taucheo in our dishes.

tau huay /huay, hUeI/ n. [Hk. huay flower, blossom, bloom; anything resembling a flower; Mand. 花 huā]  A Chinese hot or cold dessert of the consistency of very soft jelly made of coagulated soya bean milk. It is either served plain or with a sugar syrup, and occasionally with flavourings such as almond or ginger.  Known in Cantonese as Taufa.
2005 Teo Pau Lin (quoting Fong Loo Fern) The Sunday Times (LifeStyle) (from Straits Times Interactive), 23 October. For lunch, I eat popiah or a bowl of tau huay (soya beancurd).  2006 Teo Pau Lin The Sunday Times (LifeStyle) (from Straits Times Interactive), 16 July. It takes a brave man to open a tau huay shop right next to the famous Rochor Original Beancurd in Short Street. But David Koh, 38, has no fear. He is confident that his tau huay (beancurd custard with syrup) can stand up to Rochor’s, even though the latter is a household name known for its super-smooth beancurd texture. After all, he is none other than the younger brother of Rochor’s shop owner, William Koh, 47. .. The Rochor legacy began in the 1960s when the three men’s parents started peddling tau huay from a pushcart in the Rochor and Beach Road areas. Their eldest son, Koon Meng, helped them from the time he was 12, and the trio went on to improve the recipe through years of trial and error. Their brand of silky smooth beancurd comes from watering down soya milk to the right thickness, and adding just the right amount of coagulant and sweet potato flour.

tau huay chui /chui, tSUI/ n. [Hk. 水 chui water; a liquid; Mand. shuǐ]  A sweet or plain beverage made of the boiled liquid squeezed from mashed soya beans, sometimes flavoured with almonds; Soya Bean Milk, soybean milk.  Known in Cantonese as Taufa Shui.
2006 Li Xueying (quoting Goh Kai Suah) The Straits Times (from Straits Times Interactive), 21 April. ‘I’m going to tell my supplier tomorrow that I now want 12 tanks of tao huey zui every day,’ said soya bean milk hawker Goh Kai Suah, 42, who usually needs 10 plastic tanks for his stall.  2006 Hannah Tan The Sunday Times (LifeStyle) (from Straits Times Interactive), 4 June. Competition is.. shaking up the humble tau huay chui (soya bean milk). .. Soya bean milk is now also sold as soft-serve soya ice cream and frothy soya shake.  2007 Arlina Arshad The Straits Times (from Straits Times Interactive), 9 February. [T]he cafe did not materialise because the operator ‘wanted to sell sugarcane, ming chiang kuay (pancakes) and tau huay chwee (soya bean drink)’, which went against the mall’s ‘hip and trendy’ image.

tau kon /gon, g�n/ n. [Cant., dried bean-curd: 干 kon parched, dry (Eitel); Mand. gān dry (Chi.–Eng. Dict.)]  The Cantonese term for Tau Kua.

tau kua /guuah, gUA/ n. [Hk. 干 kua dry; Mand. dòugān] Also tau kwa.  Firm beancurd.  Known in Cantonese as Tau Kon.
[1955 R.J. Wilkinson A Malay–English Dictionary, vol. 2, 1177 taukua. (Batav. [Batavia], from Ch. [Chinese]) A dish sold by food-hawkers.]  2003 Teo Pau Lin The Sunday Times, 5 October, L41 Pan-fried tau kwa.. A cheap and rare meal, this is simple man’s food – pan-fried pieces of firm beancurd dipped in chilli sauce.

tau kua pau /bow, baU/ n. [Hk. 包 pau bun, bundle; Mand. bāo]  See quot. 2003.
2003 Teo Pau Lin The Sunday Times, 5 October, L42 Tau kwa pau are fried beancurds stuffed with streaky pork, sliced fishcake, fried yam, egg bits and cucumber, which you drench in dark sauce or a zesty chilli dip.

tau mio /mioh, mIo/ n. [Cant. 苗 miú grain in the blade, young growth of grass and vegetables (Eitel); Mand. miáo young plant, seedling (Chi.–Eng. Dict.)]  The young, tender shoots of the pea plant (Pisum sativum), used as a vegetable.
1991 Kok Poh Tin et. al. A Guide to Common Vegetables 92 Pisum sativum L. (Leguminosae) Snow pea.. An annual, herbaceous, temperate climber, it does not grow well in the lowlands in the tropics. .. The tender shoots are sold as a vegetable, commonly known as “Tou mio”.

tau pei /pay, peI/ n. [Cant. 皮 p‘i skin of the body, a hide, fur; a wrapper, a covering (Eitel); Mand. pí skin (Chi.–Eng. Dict.)]  A Chinese food item consisting of a soft, thin cream-coloured sheet of bean curd which is used in soups, desserts, etc.; bean curd skin. It is made from the coagulated layer that forms on the surface of the mashed soya bean mixture used to make Tauhu.

tau sar /tow sah, taU sA/ n. [Hk. 沙 sar a granulated or powdered substance; Mand. shā]  A sweetened paste made of Red Beans, Green Beans, etc., used as a filling in Chinese pastries.

tau sar pau /pow, paU/ n. [Cant. 包 páu bun; Mand. bāo]  A Pau filled with tau sar (usu. made from Red Beans).

tau sar piah /piah, piA/ n. [Hk. 饼 piah round, flat cake; Mand. bǐng]  A round, flaky Chinese pastry filled with tau sar.
2003 Teo Pau Lin The Sunday Times, 5 October, L39 Tan Boon Chai.. is still making Hokkien tau sar piah from his ancestor’s original recipe from Fujian province. ..  Filled with green bean paste, the 50-cent pastries are rich in taste and aroma.  2006 Teo Pau Lin The Sunday Times (LifeStyle) (from Straits Times Interactive), 10 September. This 60-year-old institution [Tan Hock Seng Cake Shop] is famous for its Hokkien tau sar piah, which owner Tan Boon Chai, 56, makes using his grandfather’s original recipe from Fujian province. .. [I]ts signature tau sar piah (flaky pastries with green bean filling)..

tau suan /suahn, sUAn/ n. [Hk. suan (?); Gwee suggests Mand. 爽 shuǎng bright, clear, crisp: compare 爽口 shuǎngkǒu tasty and refreshing (Chi.–Eng. Dict.)]  A hot Chinese dessert consisting of a thick soup made from Green Beans boiled with sweet potato flour, sugar and pandan leaves, and served with pieces of You Tiao.
[2006 William Gwee Thian Hock A Baba Malay Dictionary 194 tau suan [豆爽] green pea soup]  2006 The Straits Times (National Day Supplement), 9 August, 17 TOP 10 SINGAPORE DESSERTS.. 5 Tau suan  2006 Kelvin Wong (quoting Simon Chua) The Sunday Times, 17 December, 41 Now I can have my tau suan and durian but still must control a little bit..

taucheo var. of Tau Cheoh.

taufa /tow-fah, ÈtaUfA/ n. [Cant., bean-curd jelly: 花 fá flowers, blossom (Eitel); Mand. huā flower, blossom, bloom; anything resembling a flower (Chi.–Eng. Dict.)] Also taufu fa.  The Cantonese term for Tau Huay.

taufa shui /shuui, SUI/ n. [Cant. 水 shui water (Eitel); Mand. shuǐ: water, a liquid (Chi.–Eng. Dict.)]  The Cantonese term for Tau Huay Chui.

taufoo var. of Taufu.

taufu /tow-foo, ÈtaUfuù/ n. [Cant., bean curd: 腐 fú putrid, rotten, decayed, spoiled (Eitel); Mand. fu rotten, putrid; bean curd (Chi.–Eng. Dict.)] Also taufoo.  The Cantonese term for Tauhu.

taufu fa var. of Taufa.
2006 Anthony Bourdain New York Times Magazine (from Travel.nytimes.com), 24 September. [A] bowl of tofu fa, a hot beancurd custard with sugar syrup that is chased with a glass of soy milk.

taugeh /tow-gay, ÈtaUgeI/ n. [Hk. 芽 geh bud, sprout, shoot; Mand. yá]  Sprouts of the Green Bean used as a vegetable; bean sprouts.
[1963 Richard Winstedt An Unabridged Malay–English Dictionary 355 tauge, Ch. [Chinese], sprouts of the mung bean, Phaseolus aureus, eaten with rice]

tauhu /tow-hoo, ÈtaUhuù/ n. [Hk. 豆腐 taoù hoō a jelly-like preparation from pulse (Medhurst); Mand. fu rotten, putrid; bean curd (Chi.–Eng. Dict.)]  A Chinese food item consisting of a curd made from mashed soya beans; bean curd, tofu.  Known in Cantonese as Taufu.
[1832 Walter Henry Medhurst A Dictionary of the Hok-Këèn Dialect of the Chinese Language 481 豆腐, taoù hoō, a jelly-like preparation from pulse, very much eaten by the Chinese.  1955 R.J. Wilkinson A Malay–English Dictionary, vol. 2, 1177 tauhu. Ch. [Chinese]. Bean curd (shaped but not pressed); Hn. [A.W. Hamilton]]

tauhu goreng /gor-reng, Èg�ùrEN/ n. [Mal. tauhu < Hk. Tauhu + Mal. goreng fry in a pan]  A Malay dish consisting of deep-fried pieces of Tauhu that are stuffed with bean sprouts and served with a sauce of chillies, cilantro (coriander leaves) and peanuts that are ground up and mixed with soya sauce, salt and vinegar.

taupok /tow-pok, ÈtaUp�k/ n. [Hk. 薄 pok thin; Mand. báo]  1 A variety of beancurd which is flattish and square with a brown, wrinkled skin and soft, spongy interior.  2 transf.  A prank where several people pile on top of another and flatten that person like a piece of taupok.
1 2005 Peh Shing Huei The Straits Times (from Straits Times Interactive), 13 October. The Guangxi and Gaozhou Association will serve up this dish [Guangxi yong tau foo], with its special soft-skin tau pok and meat with chives.  2005 Teo Pau Lin The Sunday Times (LifeStyle), 11 December, L31 Turns out chilli noodles is just a version of dry prawn noodles. But instead of just noodles topped with fresh prawns and fishcake, it has pork spare ribs, slices of taupok (fried beancurd), a hard-boiled egg and a huge dollop of burn-your-lips-off chilli sauce.  2006 The Sunday Times (LifeStyle) (from Straits Times Interactive), 2 July. [C]ooked with taupok, mushrooms and vegetables, the noodles are springy and smooth, and boast a delicate flavour of soya sauce.  2 2004 Maria Almenoar The Straits Times, 12 January, H5 “[T]aupok”, in which students gang up to pile onto one of their brethren, is common in schools here, though principals say they neither condone nor encourage it. The prank starts when one student signals five to 10 others to pile on top of a targeted friend – flattening him like piece of “taupok”, or compressed brown tofu. Students say it is spontaneous, and targeted at boys who are good friends. .. Said Mark Chen, 18, an RJC student: “I’ve been ‘taupok-ed’ before and it’s actually quite fun. It’s usually not painful because everyone piles on quickly and gets off just as fast.”

tauyu /tow-yuu, ˈtaʊjuː/ n. [Hk. 油 yu; Mand. yóu oil, fat, grease (Chi.–Eng. Dict.)]  A salty black liquid made from fermented soya beans which is used as a seasoning; soy sauce, soya sauce.
[2006 William Gwee Thian Hock A Baba Malay Dictionary 194 tauyu/tauk-yu [豆油, 酱油] soya sauce]

teh /tay, teI/ n. [Mal. < Hk. 茶 teh tea; Mand. chá]  Tea, esp. with milk and sugar.
2000 Josephine James (quoting Erlin M. Amin) The Straits Times, 27 November, H6 I still come here for the best teh (Malay for tea).  2002 Karl Ho The Straits Times (Life!), 23 March, L10 They serve hot beverages brewed from Myanmar or Indian tea leaves and a choice of sugar or condensed or evaporated milk – quite similar to our teh or teh si.

Comb.:

teh alia var. of Teh Halia.

teh halia /hah-li-ah, ah-li-ah, ÈhAliA, ÈAliA/ n. [Mal. halia ginger] Also (erron.) teh alia.  Tea brewed with ginger.

teh kah tai /kah tı, kɑ tʌɪ/ n. [Hk. kah + tai; Mand. jiā add, plus; increase, augment; put in, add, append (Chi.–Eng. Dict.)]  Tea with more sugar.

teh kosong /ko-song, Èk�s�N/ n. [Mal. kosong nil, nothing, zero]  Tea without milk or sugar.  See Kosong.
2005 Eric J Brooks The Sunday Times, 10 April, 36 Fortunately, the drink seller across from her was able to provide me a teh-c ping kosong for 80 cents and without sugar, just as I had requested.  2006 Philip Soh Yeok Khoon The Straits Times (from Straits Times Interactive), 1 March. One can see that more health-con[s]cious Singaporeans are drinking ‘teh-o-kosong’ or ‘kopi-o-kosong’ (without sugar).

teh peng /peng, pEN/ n. [Hk. 冰 peng ice; Mand. bīng]  Iced tea.
2005 Eric J Brooks The Sunday Times, 10 April, 36 [D]espite my pointing at the sign which clearly stated that a teh-c ping was 80 cents, the seller continued to demand $1.50.  2006 ‘Mr Brown’ (Lee Kin Mun) Today 36 No more daily teh peng (iced milk tea loaded with lovely condensed milk), no more soft drinks, and no more sweet drinks.

teh see, teh si var. of Teh-C.

teh siew tai /siuu tı, sɪuː tʌɪ/ n. [Hk. siew + tai; Mand. shǎo few, little, less (Chi.–Eng. Dict.)]  Tea with less sugar.

teh tarek, teh tarik /tah-rik, ÈtArIk/ n. [Mal. tarek, tarik to pull]  Tea with milk and sugar which has been ‘pulled’, or frothed and mixed by pouring from one mug to another, often from a height.
2003 Sheena Chan The Sunday Times (LifeStyle), L40 At the row of ornate conservation shophouses along rustic Kandahar Street, you can sip your teh tarik at any of five halal restaurants, two of which have been there for more than four decades.  2006 Peter Khoo The Straits Times (Life!), 4 December, 6 No one complained even though there was only teh tarik at the table. But there was joyful banter and great kinship.  2006 Stephanie Chu Huiying The Straits Times (from Straits Times Interactive), 28 January. I don't think it is ‘blind patriotism’ to prefer local works [of literature]; it is more like preferring teh tarik to English breakfast tea. If we know only tea, we will never know the joys of teh tarik, which is uniquely satisfying.  2006 Eveline Gan Today, 31 July, 27 [O]ld-school beverages such as teh tarik, bandung and barley are served in traditional kopitiam mugs.  2006 Anthony Bourdain New York Times Magazine (from Travel.nytimes.com), 24 September. Wong also insisted that I try some chicken and mutton curries, which we washed down with teh tarik, or ‘pulled’ tea.. This Indian tea is brewed from leaves, dosed with condensed milk and then pulled, meaning poured back and forth between pitchers from increasing heights until it is frothy.

teh-C /see, siù/ n. [< the initial letter of the Eng. word C(arnation, a proprietary name for a brand of evaporated milk first sold by American grocer E.A. Stuart in the late 19th or early 20th century and now manufactured by the Nestlé company: see Kopi-C] Also teh see, teh si.  Tea made with evaporated milk.
2002 Karl Ho The Straits Times (Life!), 23 March, L10 They serve hot beverages brewed from Myanmar or Indian tea leaves and a choice of sugar or condensed or evaporated milk – quite similar to our teh or teh si.  2005 Eric J Brooks The Sunday Times, 10 April, 36 I recently ordered a “teh-c ping kosong” from a drink seller at HDB Hub’s basement foodcourt. For good measure, I also politely said: “One tea with ice and milk, no sugar.”  2006 Tan Dawn Wei The Straits Times (Life!) (from Straits Times Interactive), 24 April. The guy is as at home sipping teh-si and talking shop with Chinatown natives at Tong Ah Coffeeshop in Keong Saik Road, as he is downing vodka – his sole choice of alcohol – at Zouk or Ministry of Sound.

tehccino /-cheenoh, -tʃino/ n. [Eng. cappu)ccino]  Local tea topped with frothed milk like a cappuccino.  Compare Kopi-chino, Miloccino.
2006 Colin Goh The Sunday Times (LifeStyle) (from Straits Times Interactive), 10 September. [A]t many late-night supper spots, the suffix ‘-ccino’ is added to a bewildering array of frothy beverages, from the ‘Tehccino’ to the ‘Miloccino’. I once even heard someone ask the waiter: ‘I want Horlicks. Can make it ccino, one?’

teh-o /or, �r/ n. [Hk. or black, dark; Mand. 乌 wū]  Sweetened tea without milk.

tekan /tə-kahn, t«ÈkAn/ n. & v. [Mal., press, push hard; force, control; compare tertekan pressed, pressured, dominated, bullied]  A n. 1 Pressure put on someone.  2 Bullying, ill-treatment, harsh treatment, punishment.  B v. 1 Put pressure on.  2 Bully, ill-treat, treat harshly, punish.
A 2 1994 C.S. Chong NS: An Air-Level Story 34 Even if it was the friend next to you who got caught, everyone suffered the tekan that followed.  47 Despite all the tekan and sweat and all the nonsense, you haven’t broken down.  B 2 2003 Teo Hwee Nak & Lee Ching Wern (quoting Low Thia Khiang) Today, 17 October, 2 We have also been through training and we all kena tekan (were bullied)..  2003 Tracy Quek & Irena Joseob The Sunday Times, 19 October, 14 [title] Kena tekan.. but survival training must be rough and tough, say NSmen.. What they remember of POW training was that it tested them physically and mentally. Some soldiers might say they kena tekan (were put under mental and physical pressure), but all of them agreed it was essential.

Comb.: tekan session mil. slang  A session of extended punishment.

telt var. of Talc.

tembah /tahm-bah, ÈtAmbA/ v. [Mal. tembah, (formerly) tambah increase by repetition or continuation; compare tambahkan, tambahi, menambah, menambahkan, menambahi supplement, add to; increase (Wilkinson)]  Add (to something).

Teochew /teeoh-choo, ÈtiùotSuù/ n. & a. [Teo. 潮 dio the phenomenon of the rising and falling of the waters of the seas caused by the attraction of the sun and moon; an abbrev. for Chaozhou + 州 ziu¹ an ancient type of administrative district, now commonly used in place-names; a type of national autonomous administrative district (Chaozhou Dict.); Mand. cháo tide + zhōu (autonomous) prefecture (Chi.–Eng. Dict.)]  A n. 1 An inhabitant of Teochew or Chaozhou, a prefecture-level city in eastern 广东 Guǎngdōng Province in China, or a descendant thereof living in another part of the world.  2 The Chinese dialect of Chaozhou, a variant of Mǐn Nán [Mand. 闽南 Southern Min: Mǐn another name of Fujian Province + nán south], which was originally spoken in the Chaoshan [Mand. 潮汕 Cháoshàn < 潮(州 Cháo(zhōu + 汕(头 Shàn(tóu Swatow, a coastal city in eastern Guangdong Province (shàn a bamboo fish trip; a weir (Lin); a wicker basket for catching fish (Giles) + tóu head; top)] region of Guangdong Province and is today commonly spoken in Singapore.  B a. Of or pertaining to Teochew, its culture, and its inhabitants or persons who trace their ancestry thereto.
A 1 1893 James Dyer Ball Things Chinese (2nd ed.) 229 By.. 1891 there were 43,791 Teo Chews in the Straits Settlements: Teo Chews is the term applied generally to them in that part of the country, while Hoklo is the name by which they are generally known by the Cantonese speakers in China; the former name being derived from the Departmental city Ch‘ao Chao fú (in the local dialect Tíú Chíú fú, or Teo Chew fu).  1927 Richard John Hamilton Sidney In British Malaya To-Day, ch. 12, 144 Trouble had been brewing between Hok-kiens and the Teo-chews for some time.  1966 Maurice Freedman Chinese Lineage and Society, ch. 3, 95 People will assume for all Hakka or Hokkien or Cantonese or Tiuchiu that.. [etc.]  1979 China Now, January–February 10, col. 2 The Teochiu group from one district in Guangdong (Kwangtung) province.  1999 Lynn Pan (ed.) The Encyclopedia of the Chinese Overseas 203 Status distinctions apart, Chinese groups divided along speech lines. In his 1848 article, Seah [Eu Chin], a Teochiu speaker himself, named five other speech groups: Hokkien, Cantonese (also called ‘Macao Chinese’), Hakka and Hainanese. .. Teochius lived closer to the banks of the Singapore River..  204 While Teochius – twice as numerous as Hokkiens at the time – were also well represented in trading and agriculture, more than half were in gambier and pepper planting, a sector which they monopolized until soil deterioration drove them to Johor in the 1850s. Both Hokkiens and Teochius were in economic sectors with significant rates of capital accumulation.  2 1970 Michael Pereira Pigeon’s Blood, ch. 15, 164 He was speaking in the Teo-chieu dialect.  1978 Leong Choon Cheong Youth in the Army 86 [T]he only dialects spoken in the family are Hokkien and Teochew (Swee Poh comes from a Hokkien-speaking family, but is also conversant in Teochew because they have always stayed in Teochew neighbourhoods) although all members of the family except the parents have been educated in Chinese schools.  1999 Lynn Pan (ed.) The Encyclopedia of the Chinese Overseas 203 .. Seah, a Teochiu speaker himself..  2005 Colin Chee The Electric New Paper, 12 July. In our three-storey SIT (Singapore Improvement Trust) flat, we had.. Chinese families speaking in Hokkien, Cantonese, Teochew and Hainanese.  B 2005 The Straits Times (from Straits Times Interactive), 30 September. Ngee Ann Polytechnic has received a $12.1 million ‘red packet’ from the Teochew philanthropic foundation it is named after.  2006 Thng Lay Teen The Sunday Times (from Straits Times Interactive), 26 February. [T]raditional Teochew food at Teo Soon Loong at 55, Jalan Hang Kasturi [in Malacca, Malaysia].  1978 Leong Choon Cheong Youth in the Army 54 There was only a Rediffusion set placed at the common corridor to the several cubicle rooms occupied by several families, among which was Poh Hock’s. And from this Rediffusion set came loud Teochew wayang (opera) music.

Comb.: Teochew porridge n. [Eng. porridge, transl. of  Teo. 糜 muê⁵; Mand. mí gruel (Chi.–Eng. Dict.); rice gruel, congee (Lin)]  A thin rice porridge that is eaten with a variety of meat and vegetable dishes such as salted duck eggs, stewed pork and preserved vegetables.
2007 Teo Pau Lin (quoting Sim Ee Waun) The Sunday Times (LifeStyle), 2 September, L28 [A] full spread of authentic Teochew porridge including salted eggs, steamed pork with salted fish, chai poh (preserved radish) omelette, pork with pickled olive and slabs of fu yu (fermented beancurd).

terok var. of Teruk.

terror /te-rə, tEÈr«/ a. [Eng.]  Impressive, solid.
2003 Peh Shing Huei (quoting Mervyn Koh) The Sunday Times, 12 October, 32 Damn terror.

teruk /te-rohk, Èt«¨ok|/ a. [Mal., acute (of illness, pain); severe (of a beating); arduous (of work) (Winstedt)] Also (formerly) terok.  1 Serious, severe, very bad.  2 Of work, training, etc.: arduous, difficult, tough.  Compare Siong.
1 1994 C.S. Chong NS: An Air-Level Story 59 I heard of that platoon sergeant of yours: real sadist; how he tekan the whole butt party for ten minutes during nightshoot just for accidentally dropping a rifle. The guy was teruk.  1998 The Straits Times, 2 August, 40 Terok man. Luckily I am like a cat who has nine lives or else I would have been dead by now because of the tension.  2 1978 Leong Choon Cheong Youth in the Army 313 terok. Means ‘tough’: Malay. Reference to training. See ‘siong’.  1985 Michael Chiang Army Daze 51 Terok (Malay) Tough; like siong.  140 teruk. Terrible/extreme/worse.  2002 Tessa Wong (quoting Lim Poh Huat) The Straits Times (Life!), 15 April, L3 ‘Our work is quite teruk sometimes, and I want the public to know about us.’ Teruk is Malay for terrible.

Thaipusam /tı-puu-səm, ÈtÃIpUs«m/ n. [Tam. தைப்பூசம் taippūcam the full moon in the month of Tai, a day of festival: தை Tai the tenth month of the Tamil calendar (in the Gregorian calendar, mid-January to mid-February) < Skt. तैषी taishī the day of the full moon in the month of तैष Taisha (December–January of the Gregorian calendar), the month in which the full moon stands in the asterism