What does this say about Hong Kong? Food words lead new Oxford dictionary entries
More Hong Kong and Singaporean terms added to Oxford English Dictionary, including yum cha, milk tea, wet market, and from Lion City sabo, HDB, ang moh and a new meaning for blur
Char siu, dai pai dong, siu mei, yum cha and milk tea are now officially part of the English language. The Oxford English Dictionary has - belatedly, some might say - included 13 more Hong Kong terms in its latest update.
Food-related terms dominated the list. The other terms added were compensated dating, kaifong, guanxi, lucky money, sandwich class, shroff and sitting-out area.
A long list of terms originating in Hong Kong have been added to the English dictionary over the years, including typhoon, amah, nullah, ketchup, godown and chop.
Singaporean English terms have also been added to the Oxford dictionary, including blur (“slow in understanding; unaware, ignorant, confused), ang moh (“a light-skinned person, esp. of Western origin or descent; a Caucasian”), sabo (“to harm, inconvenience, or make trouble for (a person); to trick, play a prank on”) and HDB (“a public housing estate”).
