'Alamak', 'kaya' and 'tapau' among words added to Oxford English Dictionary (2025)

SINGAPORE: Several everyday expressions used in Singapore and Malaysia were on Wednesday (Mar 26) added to the Oxford English Dictionary in its quarterly update for March 2025.

Popular food items also featured heavily in the update, with a number of dishes familiar on both sides of the Causeway – and in Indonesia – now defined in the dictionary.

Commenting on the additions, Oxford mused over the value of what it described as "untranslatable words" and how they expand the vocabularies of different forms of English.

Among the added words was "alamak", which the dictionary defined as an interjection expressing "surprise, shock, dismay or outrage".

"Kaya" received double the acknowledgement, entering the Oxford pantheon in its own right – "a jam made from coconut milk, eggs and sugar, usually flavoured with pandan leaf" – and as part of "kaya toast" – "a sandwich consisting of two slices of toasted bread spread with butter and kaya".

"Ketupat" – "a small rice cake boiled in a pouch of woven palm leaves" – also made the cut, along with "nasi lemak" – "a Malay dish of rice cooked in coconut milk and flavoured with pandan leaf, served with various garnishes (such as cucumber slices, fried fish, roasted peanuts, cooked egg and sambal) and usually eaten for breakfast" – and "otak-otak" – "a Southeast Asian dish consisting of ground fish or other seafood mixed with spices and coconut milk, wrapped in banana or palm leaves, and cooked by steaming or grilling over an open charcoal fire, usually served as an accompaniment to nasi lemak".

The somewhat more self-explanatory "fish head curry" – "a dish influenced by Chinese and South Indian cuisine, consisting of a large fish head, usually of a sea bream or snapper, cooked in a tangy tamarind-based curry gravy with vegetables such as aubergine and okra" – and "half-boiled egg" – "an egg which has been cooked briefly in freshly boiled water such that the yolk and the white remain runny, then cracked open and served in a bowl, seasoned with dark soy sauce and white pepper" – were also added.

With the number of food items added, it was perhaps inevitable that "tapau" – "to take (food or drink) from a restaurant or shop where it has been prepared, for consumption off the premises" – would also be included.

Also getting the nod was "mat rempit" – "a (typically young) man who participates in illegal motorcycle street racing and often performs dangerous stunts".

Several words from other Southeast Asian countries also made the list, including "cyclo", "kababayan" and "lumpia".

Words with Spanish roots featured extensively in the quarter's additions, and a number of entries reflected developments in technology and popular culture, as well as topics that have been in the news – think "Gen Alpha", "large language model" and "vape".

The full list of words that have been added to the dictionary this quarter is available here.