Language in Brunei

My Brunei Malay dictionary shows some words with 'Ig', to indicate that they come from English. While the origin of some is obvious ...

In American English, cooties is used as a term of abuse by children, indicating some other child is abnormal in some way. Typical usage mig...

A friend was negotiating with an Indian grass-cutter for the fellow to come and cut his grass, and he got the following text reply: Sar tum...

This is the front of a booklet written by my five-year-old granddaughter, Elsie. Can you read it? In fact, it says 'Goldilocks and the T...

I recently saw this notice on a glass door at UBD: The usual wording would be 'CAUTION', not 'CAUTIOUS'. (In fact, the sign ...

While I was in Glasgow, I travelled on their subway system, which consists of a simple line looping round the city. When you catch the train...

I was in the UK for a few weeks recently, and everywhere I went there were notices advertising free cash. But however many times I tried, I ...

How do you pronounce gaol ? If you are in Brunei, you might not know this spelling; but it occurs in the UK. Here is a street sign in Herefo...

I saw this headline in the Times of 4 July 2015. When I first read it, I could not understand the final word on the first word: chicest . I...

I was recently in Japan, where some of the signs can be quite challenging. Take this one, on the outside wall of a Buddhist temple. I think ...

The word jerayawara ('roadshow') is (I believe) mostly used in Brunei, though I note one entry in the Malaysian PRPM resource ( her...

I recently saw this sign in the washroom at the Bangar ferry terminal in Termburong: The Malay says 'Throw rubbish into the dustbin pr...

The level of complexity and allusion in some cartoons is stunning. Take the following Dilbert cartoon: It involves two people, Alice and Wal...

I saw this headline for an article on page 11 of Media Permata of 18 May 2015: This can be translated as: Young people of Sabah urged to th...

One of my favourite views of Brunei is from the forest trail in Tasek Lama, where I go walking with my wife two or three times every week. T...

Last week, the radio news and the local newspapers were dominated by the wedding of Prince Malik, or Yang Teramat Mulia Paduka Seri Duli Pen...

On page M3 of the Media Permata of 24 March, I read that some school children had been involved in Jungle Tracking . I wondered if this is ...

It seems to be the common practice for universities around the world to adopt three-letter abbreviations. So you find UBD and ITB in Brunei,...

This week, I registered for TelBru's e-bill facility, which lets me monitor my usage of the internet as well as pay my telephone bills e...

I was reminded of the difficulties of using a Malay dictionary when I tried to look up pengecas . To use a Malay dictionary, you need to id...