reply on: Christmas mood in Japan \ stacker news ~Photography

44 sats \ 9 replies \ @south_korea_ln 17 Oct \ parent \ on: Christmas mood in Japan Photography

Lar/lah... A neat little example of Singlish :)

From here:

“Lah/Lar”

This is one of the most commonly used words in the Singlish vocabulary. “Lah” or “lar” is often used at the end of sentences for a certain emphasis, be it to suggest irritation, endearment, incredulous behaviour or even in a casual conversation. On its own, it has no meaning.

Is that an accurate description @cryotosensei?

24 sats \ 1 reply \ @Rothbardian_fanatic 17 Oct

Thet sounds like "eh" in Canada and Northren USA. It also sounds like "ne" in Japanese.

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @cryotosensei OP 17 Oct

Yup that’s right. If I’m not wrong, the Kiwis also use eh as a particle

0 sats \ 6 replies \ @cryotosensei OP 17 Oct

I’m so touched that you went to Google the meaning of lar. Thanks, mate

34 sats \ 5 replies \ @south_korea_ln 17 Oct

I've always wondered though, is lar coming from the 了often put at the end of sentences in Chinese?

0 sats \ 3 replies \ @cryotosensei OP 17 Oct

I have actually never pondered the origins of lar, but I think it’s different from 了。

了 is included at the end of a sentence to indicate that the action has been done. 吃饱了　(I have finished eating) 做好了 (I have done this)

Unlike lar, 了 is an integral part of a sentence. Without it, it won’t convey its full meaning. Whereas I can omit lar and convey my intended meaning. And that’s actually what we need to be mindful of when we are speaking during formal occasions. Too many lar’s and people will think that you don’t know how to speak proper English

24 sats \ 2 replies \ @Rothbardian_fanatic 17 Oct

In that case, lar definitely sounds like it could be a case of um, like, or so. They don’t seem to convey meaning but represent a glitch in someone’s speaking. I guess they are very difficult habits to break. I can attest to the difficulty of breaking a habit of cursing every other word, that I once had learned.

0 sats \ 1 reply \ @cryotosensei OP 17 Oct

I’m not sure I wanna break it in the first place. It’s ingrained in my identity.

So I typed no lar intentionally, just like how I would answer a Singaporean friend. Didn’t expect @south_korea_ln to catch on to it n stimulate this conversation ;)

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @Rothbardian_fanatic 17 Oct

I guess any nitpicking on anything to keep an online conversation going is fair game. Sometimes it gets pretty dry without people nitpicking and riding hobby horses. Sometimes there is even a laugh or two in it somewhere.

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @Rothbardian_fanatic 17 Oct

It could be. Or it could be something like a misplace article or preposition. Here a lot of people use “so” as a sentences enders and “like” as verbal glitches.