geh kiang
English
editAlternative forms
editEtymology
editFrom Singaporean Hokkien 假勥 (ké-khiàng, literally “fake cleverness”).
Pronunciation
editAdjective
editgeh kiang (comparative more geh kiang, superlative most geh kiang)
- (Singapore, Singlish) Overconfident and pretending to be clever.
- 2005 December 10, Philip Lee, The New Paper, quoted in Jack Tsen-Ta Lee, A Dictionary of Singlish and Singapore English, Singapore: Singapore Press Holdings Limited:
- [O]ne never knows how such unsolicited advice might be taken. The owner might just ask me not to be too ‘keh khiang’ (clever by half) and to mind my own business, just as he was so successfully minding his.
Verb
editgeh kiang (indeclinable)