Thursday, July 7, 2005

The Gah! Phenomenon

I've been thinking. Heh.

It has come to my attention that a lot of Malaysian bloggers use the exclamation, "Gah!" when they probably mean to say, "Ptui!" or maybe even, "Cheh!" This is fine, of course. After all, "Gah!" in its written form is quite elegant, and oozes with good 'ol American charm - even if it sounds somewhat pretentious.

However if you use, "Gah!" in your day-to-day conversation with me then I reserve the right to give you a tight slap across the face.

I had a friend who went to Australia for a couple of months. When he returned, he deemed it necessary to rub in our faces, those of us who did not have the good fortune of getting an overseas education. "Feck you, mite," he greeted me upon his return. I countered with a swift kick in his... erm... legumes, if only to restore his roots, "Feck this, whyduncha!"

He blocked the assault, of course, but the result was nonetheless just as effective. "Woi, dun like dat lah you," he spoke like a true Malaysian once again. "I play-play oni mah!"

So do write, "Gah!" if you absolutely must. But occasionally, write also, "Pfeh!" and "Cis Bedebah!" and that wonderful, "Dey!" lest you forget your roots and must be reminded. :)

21 comments:

  1. how about "oit", "cilaka", "sial"... LOL

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  2. cis bedebah sounds nice.. but I often say 'mother Bitch' when I trip ver or lose my balance haha.

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  3. I gah! gah! a lot with my friends worr ... but then again when I chat with Malaysians-Singaporeans, my slang goes back to homestyle~!
    EAST SAAAAYID YOOOOO!

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  4. It is SO not a phenomenon.
    (btw i thought gah! is used in the context of yikes! and eeeww! and get it off me!, is it not?)

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  5. got gah meh? i thot that quite england!
    i don't know... i quite cheena.... kah kah kah...

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  6. oi the Australian way to do the kick is to first ask if the receiver wants some free land ? here is a couple of achers hehe

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  7. dey, james! got gah meh? i rarely come across people using it and i never use it. but i use cheh a lot and ptui sometimes.
    why i never heard of gah one? i must be like a katak dibawah tempurung. cheh!

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  8. Dei.. Podah dah dei!... where got "Gah!" ? never heard of it lar..
    I prefer the tamil words.. like "Aiyoyo", "Cheh", "Podah", "Yenadaa dei" etc etc.. going back to my roots.. well quite diluted actually..
    anyways.. to each his own.. la la la..

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  9. Bah humbug! :)
    Gah and Bah reminds me of Mr. Goon from the Five Find-Outers and dog by Enid Blyton. That's where I first learnt it from.

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  10. Bah! Gah! Cheh! Cis! Yenneh! Podah!
    Bedebah! Ketiak busuk!
    Loo kong si mik????
    Gua talak pa ham la brader :lol:

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  11. Gah. :P Gah sounds like gar. Gar, did you know, is actually a fish? Go figure.

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  12. Hahahh, now aren't you a walking dictionary of local exclamations, Babe!
    Motherbitch? Thats a new one for me, Cyber-red! :lol:
    Go right ahead and Gah, Gwen. I'm just being as ass. Hehhheh!
    You must be reading some other blogs, Lionel. Hehh.
    Cis, alone or with friends, is good enough for me Spot. :)
    T-Boy, would you like some free land? (Did I get that right, DB?)
    :lol: MOO+1. So you're a regular Phua Chu Kang aren't you?
    Sashi: Back to you, macha! :lol:
    Lucia, Lucia. You must not be paying attention. Hehhh.
    :lol: Paulos, you're gonna give us all free lessons in Tamil exclamations aren't you?
    Enid Blyton, Primrose? Gah!
    Hahahah, how in the world did Ketiak Busuk get in there, Anjali!?
    Really, Delevia? Hmmm... we learn something new everyday, don't we?

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  13. GAHHH!!! BAH!!!! BLeh!!! BLuaK!! :P typcial malaysia blogger exclamation hehehehhehe

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  14. Deepsy, this is the first time I'm seeing Bluak! :lol:

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  15. Hmm...I don't think Gah! is American... My hubby is american and I'm M'sian...we currently live in Texas, and I've honestly never heard Gah! We do use Ai Yo! a lot though. Yes, even my white hubby. Its funny when he does it.
    Thanks for the poignant reminder of some of the other awesome exclamations I formerly used. :) I miss them! Especially Cis, Bedebah!

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  16. What about alamak! ?? I've heard of bah! though still unsure of how it's used. Halo???!!! Hahaha.. :)

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  17. Ehheheh i was reminded of Opocot - something the other gals loved to say when they were surprised hehehe - or mak oi ;p

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  18. :lol: Sarah, I like it when gweilos say Malaysian things like "Aiyo" and "Lah". It's cute!
    Alamak is good, AhWern. But I prefer Fulamak! Hehhehh.
    I think ppl who say Opocot are endearing, Visithra!

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