To survive in Singapore, you need to know your AYEs, BKEs and CTEs. Singaporeans have acronyms for just about everything – from government bodies like MOE and MOF, swear words like KNN and CCB, to even people like their Minister Mentor LKY.

Heck, even kids tease each other with acronyms like BBQ.

So I wasn’t too surprised – although a little amused – that the Singaporean government is fighting the recession blues with perk-me-up acronyms like BOOST, SPUR, PREP-UP and YES.

Acronyms are pretty much a way of life here. Even after living here for 8 months, I still have to occasionally search for acronyms to understand what people are talking about.

But it’s these little things that make me appreciate life in Singapore.

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New section: Stuff Singaporeans Like

I was inspired to start a “Stuff Singaporeans Like” section after reading Stuff White People Like. I felt it’s quite entertaining (and educational) for everyone to point out the little quirks in his or her culture. With that said, I don’t think I understand Singapore well enough to compile 100 “stuffs” yet. Perhaps some of you Singaporeans can help me with this endeavor. I’d welcome a guest post on it anytime.

Do you have any linguistic quirks in your country?

Related posts:

1. Singapore Files: The Tissue Culture