Lah

This post is part of the A to Z Challenge. Each post will be associated with a letter of the alphabet with the theme ‘Malaysiana‘

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“Don’t lah…”

“I know lah!”

“Yeah lah!”

Like Alamak, if you hear someone peppering their sentences with the word lah, you’re probably in the vicinity of a fellow-Malaysian (or Singaporean).

The word lah doesn’t translate into any word although it is used in a variety of situations – to emphasise, tease, cajole and more! I’ve heard some non-Malaysians try to sound local by including lah in their conversation. Unfortunately, their placement of lah in the conversation is not quite right! Sadly, the correct usage of lah can’t be taught because so many factors need to be considered – context or how well you know the other person you’re speaking too! most of the time, depends on the tune and also the context!

Here’s a video of the usage of lah in a variety of situations! This video is an example of its usage in Singlish (or Singapore English) which is nearly identical to Manglish (Malaysian English)! 😀