English edit

Etymology edit

Either a calque of Hokkien 講𡳞鳥話讲𡳞鸟话 (kóng lān-chiáu-ōe), from 講話讲话 (kóng-ōe, “talk”) + 𡳞鳥𡳞鸟 (lān-chiáu, “cock (penis)”), or influenced by the English phrase cock-and-bull story.

Verb edit

talk cock (third-person singular simple present talks cock, present participle talking cock, simple past and past participle talked cock)

  1. (Singapore, Malaysia, informal) To talk nonsense.
    • 2019, Loke Hoe Yeong, “14: Regrouping”, in The First Wave[1]:
      It was at this Parliament sitting, during an intense 40-minute exchange between Ling How Doong and Lee Hsien Loong, that Ling uttered the phrase "Don't talk cock," which became famous for all the wrong reasons in the annals of Singaporean parliamentary history.
  2. (Singapore, informal) To engage in idle chatter.