Coffeeshop Lingo

The coffeeshop is such a common scene in Singapore. Describing their presence as "ubiquitous" is certainly not an exaggeration. In every neighbourhood centre, there are a few coffeeshops and these are places where fellow Singaporeans sample local and inexpensive food. Coffeeshop culture is so entrenched in the Singaporean psyche that a certain lingo has evolved to describe the various drinks served in coffeeshops. The names are primarily a mixture of Malay and Hokkien, and I try to compile a list here.

Essentially the rules of grammar starts with "Kopi" (for coffee with milk and sugar) and "Teh" (for tea with milk and sugar). Then you add different suffixes to describe if milk or sugar is added, whether you want it strong or diluted, whether you want it with more or less sugar, or served cold, and the type of milk to add to this concoction. So here goes ....

Kopi/Teh - Coffee/Tea

Kopi/Teh Oh - Black Coffee/Tea

Kopi/Teh Kosong - Coffee/Tea with no sugar

Kopi/Teh Gau - Strong Coffee/Tea

Kopi/Teh Po - Diluted Coffee/Tea

Kopi/Tea Siew Dai - Coffee/Tea with less sugar

Kopi/Teh Peng - Iced Coffee/Tea

Kopi/Teh Si - Coffee/Tea with evaporated milk

The grammar allows you to chain up any of these suffixes. So if you are a coffee addict and prefer strong black coffee, then you can order "Kopi Oh Gau".

You can even mix coffee and tea together call "Yuan Yang" which is the name of a bird that represents love and commitment in Chinese culture.

To take this to the extreme, I wonder how will the coffeeshop owners react if you order odd combinations like "Yuan Yang Oh Gau" or "Yuan Yang Gau Si Siew Dai Peng".

Incidently, the last order means... A mixture of strong coffee and tea with evaporated milk but less sweet and on ice.