This month, the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) released its first quarterly update of the year, adding more than 500 new words while revising nearly 1,000 existing entries. Such updates are the event of the season among word watchers and culture observers across the globe.
For over two decades, I have traced Chinese-derived words — whether borrowed from standard Chinese or its dialects, coined through translation or born of pidgin origins — as they earn a spot in the world’s most authoritative English dictionary. The OED, whose preeminence remains unchallenged, thus forms the bedrock of my lexical research.
About a week before each quarterly release, the OED’s “Recently added” section offers early clues. This time, I sensed something noteworthy. When the update dropped, the “Overview” confirmed new additions from Hong Kong, the Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore, South Africa and Ireland. Cantonese dominates in Hong Kong, while Hokkien has left deep imprints across Singapore, Malaysia and the Philippines. Both are Chinese dialects. This update would yield treasure.
Scanning the full list, I confirmed eight Chinese-derived words among the 500 new entries — the largest batch in nearly a decade.
Food took center stage. Half of these new additions relate to eating and drinking:
Dan tat (蛋撻), borrowed from Cantonese, is defined as “an open tart with a pastry crust and an egg custard filling.”
Pineapple bun (菠蘿包) is a calque (direct translation) of the Cantonese bo loh baau described as “a sweet bun originating in Hong Kong, topped with a crust of sugar, butter and flour that creates a cracked texture resembling pineapple skin.”
Ironically, the bun contains no pineapple.
Singapore noodles (星洲炒米粉) is another calque, this time of the Cantonese sing jau chau maih fan defined as “thin rice noodles stir-fried with meat (typically char siu), prawns, vegetables, eggs and curry powder.” Despite the name, the dish originated in Hong Kong and has no connection to Singapore.
Yin yeung (鴛鴦[奶茶]) is borrowed from Cantonese and refers to “a Hong Kong-originated drink mixing tea, brewed coffee, sugar and milk,” served either hot or cold.
The remaining four reflect everyday language: Jialat (吃力) is from Singapore English via Hokkien, and originally means “tiresome,” but it now commonly describes a disastrous situation or a person in serious trouble.
Kaypoh (雞婆) is common in Singapore and Malaysia. It defines “an interfering busybody” who meddles in others’ affairs. Its roots lie in Hokkien.
Lap sap (垃圾) comes from Hong Kong English via Cantonese, meaning “rubbish” or “debris,” and figuratively, “nonsense.”
Play play (玩玩) is used in Singapore and Malaysia to mean “to fool around” or “waste time,” and is often used as a warning (“don’t play play”). Its structure highlights the influence of Chinese grammatical reduplication, with features typical of Chinese Pidgin English.
The OED releases updates every March, June, September and December. This month’s edition stands out for featuring the highest number of Chinese-derived borrowings in a decade.
Significantly, all eight words come from Chinese dialects in Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaysia — none from Standard Chinese as spoken in Taiwan or China. This reveals a clear pattern: Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaysia are former British colonies where English is an official language or a common lingua franca. This unique environment generates abundant English usage that can influence the global stage. Cantonese and Hokkien have served as rich sources of vocabulary in these regions. Furthermore, the OED’s recent lexicographical focus has been targeted at these areas. It is only natural that such culture-specific words would be recognized.
In contrast, Taiwan and China, where English is not a daily language for the vast majority, produce fewer homegrown English corpora, making it harder for Standard Chinese borrowings to gain the same global foothold.
The power of Chinese dialects, as evidenced by the Cantonese and Hokkien influence on the English language, might provide plenty of food for thought.
Hugo Tseng holds a doctorate in linguistics, and is a lexicographer and former chair of the Soochow University Department of English.
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