A Singaporean who’d been educated in a Chinese stream school once wrote in her letter, “Friendly speaking, I don’t…” (She’d meant "frankly speaking".)
This sort of approximation is very common, and not just among the Chinese either. I’ve heard “Kings Cross” (the station in London) consistently being expressed as “King Cross” — mostly by Spanish speakers from South America, but also by Eastern Europeans.
When I was a child, people would say, when directing a driver to reverse, “Go stun go stun!” I later realised it was meant to be “go astern”.
When you wowed people with, say, a new hairdo, they’d make an utterance that I used to think was Chinese because it was used in a conversation conducted in dialect. I later found out that it was “I say man”*.
So, lots of borrowings from British colonial days that are not quite there — just a rough reproduction of the sounds that they’d heard without completely understanding the original words. A sort of Chinese Whispers.
(Singapore, 1950s–1970s)
PS: Another one is my second older sister (the rebellious one featured in my blog How to dent male chauvinistic behaviour), who consistently writes “Covic”. A Turkish friend in London sends messages referring to Covit — not sure if the mistake is hers or that of the people originating the messages she forwards.
NB: “I say man” (From googling) An expression of disappointment, indignation, or disbelief. This is a hangover from British colonial times, when the British gentleman masters would exclaim “I say, man!” when the wrong wine was served with their meals, or other such crises.
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