koyok

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Malay koyok (“quack medicine”), from Hakka 膏藥／膏药 (kò-yo̍k, “herbal plaster, medicated patch, poultice”).

Pronunciation

• (Singapore) IPA^(key): /kɒjɒk̚/

Noun

koyok (uncountable)

1. (Singapore, informal) A phoney or fraudulent item; anything deceptively promoted as genuine or of high quality.
   • 2011 March 1, Ravi Philemon, “Goh Meng Seng the koyok seller”, in (Please provide the book title or journal name)‎^[1]:

     Whenever I meet Meng Seng, he is always trying to sell me his koyok and recruit me into his Party.

   • 2012 September 17, Tan Meng Chuan, “On The Challenges of Cleaning Water”, in Overseas Singaporean Unit‎^[2], archived from the original on 5 March 2016:

     “I'm here to sell my koyok,” laughed Olivia Lum as she took to the stage and began her presentation on Hyflux Limited, it turned out that the koyok was not some sales pitch trying to sell ice to Eskimos.

   • 2015 September 10, “Vivian: I fight back when people sell 'koyok'”, in The Straits Times:

     This is the reason why I get so uptight, so aggressive when someone comes along, talks very well, but sells koyok and puts our country in danger.

Anagrams

• Kokyo, Kyoko, kooky

Indonesian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈkojɔʔ]
• Hyphenation: ko‧yok

Etymology 1

From Malay koyok (“medicated patch, quack medicine”), from Hakka 膏藥／膏药 (kò-yo̍k, “herbal plaster, medicated patch, poultice”).

Noun

koyok (first-person possessive koyokku, second-person possessive koyokmu, third-person possessive koyoknya)

1. (pharmacology) medicated patch.

Alternative forms

• koyo

Etymology 2

From Malay koyok (“wild dog”), from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *kuyuk, from Proto-Austronesian *kuyuk.

Noun

koyok (first-person possessive koyokku, second-person possessive koyokmu, third-person possessive koyoknya)

1. wild dog.

Further reading

• “koyok” in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia, Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016.

Malay

Etymology 1

From Hakka 膏藥／膏药 (kò-yo̍k, “herbal plaster, medicated patch, poultice”).

Noun

koyok (Jawi spelling کويوق, plural koyok-koyok, informal 1st possessive koyokku, 2nd possessive koyokmu, 3rd possessive koyoknya)

1. medicated patch.
2. nonsense talk.

Descendants

• Indonesian: koyok (“medicated patch”)
• → English: koyok (“quack medicine”)

Etymology 2

From Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *kuyuk, from Proto-Austronesian *kuyuk. Doublet of kuyuk.

Noun

koyok (Jawi spelling کويوق, plural koyok-koyok, informal 1st possessive koyokku, 2nd possessive koyokmu, 3rd possessive koyoknya)

1. wild dog.

Descendants

• Indonesian: koyok (“wild dog”)

Further reading

• “koyok” in Pusat Rujukan Persuratan Melayu | Malay Literary Reference Centre, Kuala Lumpur: Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka, 2017.

Tenggarong Kutai Malay

Etymology

From Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *kuyuk, from Proto-Austronesian *kuyuk.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kojɔʔ/

Noun

koyok

1. dog