Approximation (Singapore)

A Singaporean who’d been educated in a Chinese stream school once wrote in her letter, “Friendly speaking, I don’t…”

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 what they heard without completely understanding the original words. 

(Singapore, 1950s–1970s)

PS:  Another one is my second sister (the rebellious featured in How to dent male chauvinistic behaviour), who consistently writes “Covic”.

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