Cross- cultural Communication This page intentionally left blank

Hinglish
English
Speed money
Money to expedite a transaction
Rail roke
Rail strike
Babu English
Flowery language
Snake juice
Illegally distilled liquor
How are you pulling in these days?
How are you getting on?
A fooding and lodging
A small hotel
Head bath
Hair washing
Badmash
Naughty
Glassy
In need of a drink
Figure 4.5 Examples of Hinglish
Singlish
This is a form of colloquial English used in Singapore and developed from 
a mixture of English, Malay, Tamil and the languages of Southern China, 
in particular Hokkien. There are no grammatical rules. The development 
of Singlish has been spurred on by the fact that English is one of the four 
official languages in Singapore and is the main language for administra-
tion, commerce and education. However, the use of Singlish is discouraged 
by the government and well- educated Singaporeans, and the government 
has created an annual Speak Good English Movement. Although its use is 

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The International Use of English 71
discouraged in the mass media and in schools, it often occurs in routine 
usage by ordinary working people on the street and on TV and radio, and 
has become an independent, English- based creole language with many col-
ourful expressions. Examples include ‘Ya ya papaya’ (an arrogant person) and 
‘mugger toad’ (a hard- working student who can regurgitate information).
It is interesting that although Hong Kong was a
British- administered 
colony for many years, there has not been such a comparative development 
of a distinctive English form as the vast majority of the inhabitants there are 
Cantonese- speaking Chinese.
Strine
Strine is the Australian English vernacular which contains many colourful 
words and phrases, such as the following given in Figure 4.6.