help me with the word "lah" lah ....

[stndn]

like most (south east) asian people, i often use the word "lah" at the end of sentences
example: don't go there lah ... don't be like that lah ... i guess it's ok lah ... etc...

anyways, i talked with one of my friends a while back... and she noticed i used "lah" in most of my sentences... so she asked me what that means, and i tried to explain somewhat, but she still doesn't understand the meaning of the word...

i know how to use the word lah, but i don't know how to explain the meaning loh ....
and i know there are quite a few asian people on the board, and you may be able to explain what that word means, how to use it appropriately, etc....

so help me explain:
- what is the meaning of the word "lah"? how about "loh"?
- what's the "rules" in using the word lah in sentences?

thank you

-996-

 

[PsychoAndy]

AFAIK, its not "lah"

its more of an "ah"

ie:

sei sow sic fan ah
andrew-ah
etc......

why do we use it? (altough i will only use it to make fun of the people that do). beats the hell out of me

 

[luv2chill]

I've never heard anyone, asian or otherwise, say "lah" at the end of a sentence.

What does it add to the sentence that makes it preferable to say it as opposed to leaving it off?

l2c

 

[RGN]

lah? I'm not asian so I guess that why I dont know either.

 

[b0mbrman]

<< I've never heard anyone, asian or otherwise, say "lah" at the end of a sentence.
What does it add to the sentence that makes it preferable to say it as opposed to leaving it off?
l2c >>


It's like asking for agreement, sorta like Canadians and "eh"

 

[PsychoAndy]

<<

<< I've never heard anyone, asian or otherwise, say "lah" at the end of a sentence.
What does it add to the sentence that makes it preferable to say it as opposed to leaving it off?
l2c >>


It's like asking for agreement, sorta like Canadians and "eh" >>



VERY well put. thats actually an excellent analogy.

in summation:

asians to "ah" are like:

bostonians are to "wicked"
canadians are to "eh"

 

[luv2chill]

Thanks for the explanation guys...

I have heard asians who say "ah" at the end of a sentence, but not "lah"

l2c

 

[b0mbrman]

The only way I hear it used in English is to say (phonetically) "Koo shih, lah"

 

[stndn]

it's actually different from "ah"...
i know it's "lah", because, well, i use it ...
it's mostly used as part of singlish (singaporean english) and was spread to other neighbouring countries (or so i believe). i don't know if it's the same as canadian "eh", since it's not really asking for agreement

more examples:
- i'm full already lah, don't want to eat anymore lah
- i don't care lah
- don't be like that lah
- he's a funny one lah

i know for "ah", it's more used in mandarin/cantonese/hokkian instead of english
- mai a ne ah (hokkian)
- mei se me ah (mandarin)
- lei kong me ah? (cantonese)

so, i guess, back to the first question lah ....

-997-

 

[Jokeram]

stndn, u from malaysia lah? only the malaysians and singaporean's use 'lah' lah..

it is just a word used to liven up conversation lah... instead of just saying yah or no... you are saying 'yah lah' or 'no lah'

it is a useless word that sticks to everything that you say, lah

and some people might find it annoying lah.

"LOH" as far as I know is a common chinese last name that is used in Malaysia

 

[pillage2001]

Aiyoh, why so guys so like that wan. Like that oso you people don't know wan ar?? AiYohhhhhh........

Come on lah, the word "lah", so very common. You mummy never send you to school to learn England ah??



DAmn, Spoken like a true Malaysian.

 

[fr]

...and don't forget the younger, cooler, hipper - "luh!"

 

[yellowplastic]

I have no idea what it means, but from the context, it sounds like an informal interjection similar to "man" or "dude", intended to create rapport with the listener.

 

[khstudios]

ive seen "la" not "lah"
but i guess its the same thing...

i dunno, but some fob girls use it

 

[HamSupLo]

Suppose you want to tell someone to eat sh!t. You say: Sic see la!!
Cantonese sounds too blunt without the "la, ah, wor, ja, ma, wa, loh, etc" and the end of the sentence.

 

[amnesiac]

I guess it would be similar to the Japanese "ne"
(Sugoi ne!!!)

or maybe in English "huh"
That was strange, huh?
That sucks, huh.

 

[milagro]

i hadn't heard it had expanded beyond Singapore...i'll watch for it i guess...there's a strong asian contingent here in Hawaii but we all use "yeah" instead. Cool, yeah?

 

[Jokeram]

<< Aiyoh, why so guys so like that wan. Like that oso you people don't know wan ar?? AiYohhhhhh........

Come on lah, the word "lah", so very common. You mummy never send you to school to learn England ah??



DAmn, Spoken like a true Malaysian. >>



yeah lah

Edit: true Malaysian indeed... long time since I heard something like that

 

[stndn]

thank you all for the help and responses!!
i'm not from singapore or malaysia.. i can speak little singlish, but no can type ... so hard to type without intonation lah... speaking is easier and sounds better lah... u all agree, khan? it's true, what?

damn, pillage2001, you came from singapore ah? speak so good singlish leh...

khstudios: i believe "la" is the same as "lah" ... they sound similar, and i know people use those two all the time

i tend to agree that it's similar to "man" or "dude" in english context, or "ne" in japanese... i think "eh" (canadian) is more like asking for agreement and questions, so maybe it's not the same as "lah"

but as far as i'm concerned, the answers have been good and satisfactory lah...

thank you all

-999-

(what a way to post my 999th post...

now to create a "member status" thread ... )

 

[tamade]

I think the word lah comes from malay. They use a lot of lah in malay so when those Malaysian speak english they tend to use lah too. For example

<<- i'm full already lah, don't want to eat anymore lah>>
saya sudah kenyang lah, tak mahu makan lagi lah

<<- i don't care lah>>
saya tak kisah lah

<<- don't be like that lah>>
jangan macam ni lah

<<- he's a funny one lah>>
dia ni kelawar lah

so you can see they tend to direct translate malay to english and in the process they bring along the lah into their translation. Lah doesn't mean anything in malay but again I might be wrong.

 

[Ornery]

• Good Example Here!

 

[loup garou]

Reading this thread, all I can think about is the SNL skit with the guys at the gyro place:

"You lik-ah the juice, ah? The juice is good, ah?"

 

[b0mbrman]

<< i tend to agree that it's similar to "man" or "dude" in english context, or "ne" in japanese... i think "eh" (canadian) is more like
asking for agreement and questions, so maybe it's not the same as "lah" >>


Hmmm...I think you're right.

I probably use it more for emphasis than anything else or just as a space-filler...

Then again, I'm Filipino so if it started in Malaysia, it was probably pretty bastardized by the time it got to me

 

[kt]

i don't know if this would answer your question or not, but i use it to end a sentence.. like you would end a sentence with a period, question mark, etc. because i noticed in most chinese dialect, you don't really know when a whole sentence end. if you read chinese characters, you know when a sentence end but not if you speak it. as for why people use it in their typing, i guess it's something that got carried over to typing it out.

 

[luv2chill]

<< Reading this thread, all I can think about is the SNL skit with the guys at the gyro place:

"You lik-ah the juice, ah? The juice is good, ah?"

>>

Bahahahah OMG that skit was hilarious. Now I need to see it... wonder if someone made a clip out of it?




l2c