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Glite Dictionary
Ah Lian

Ah Lian

9.9
A young woman who wears bright, showy clothes and speaks with bold slang
  • noun
  • Slur
translation icon : [TÉRMINO OFENSIVO: insulto singapurense para una mujer joven de estilo llamativo]
  • The Ah Lian at the mall always has colorful hair and bold makeup.

Examples

  • Many people stereotype her as an Ah Lian because of her loud voice and unique fashion sense.

  • Many Ah Lians love to hang out at Orchard Road.

  • Despite being called an Ah Lian, she is proud of her individuality.

  • That girl is such an Ah Lian with her bright pink hair.

  • Many people stereotype her as an Ah Lian because of her loud voice and unique fashion sense.

  • The Ah Lian at the mall always has colorful hair and bold makeup.

  • Many Ah Lians love to hang out at Orchard Road.

Surface Forms

Ah Lian singular
Ah Lians plural

Morphology

Ah + Lian

The term is a culturally specific Singlish/Hokkien label whose constituents are not independent English lexical items with transparent meanings; knowing 'Ah' and 'Lian' (which are not standard dictionary words in English) does not allow a learner to infer the social stereotype. The sense depends on local cultural and socio-pragmatic knowledge rather than compositional semantics, so a B1 learner who only knows the parts would not be able to derive the MWE meaning.

Etymology

Ah Lian may come from local Chinese speech where people add Ah before a woman's name like Lian to call her in a casual way. Because people used the name for young women with loud clothes, bright hair and bold speech, it now means 'a young woman from a flashy, urban subculture'.