geh kiang

English

Alternative forms

• keh kiang, kay kiang

Etymology

From Singaporean Hokkien 假勥 (ké-khiàng, literally “fake cleverness”).

Pronunciation

• (Singapore) IPA^(key): [ke²⁴ kʰiaŋ²¹]

Adjective

geh kiang (comparative more geh kiang, superlative most geh kiang)

1. (Singapore, Singlish) Overconfident and pretending to be clever.
   • 2005 December 10, Philip Lee, The New Paper, quoted in Jack Tsen-Ta Lee, A Dictionary of Singlish and Singapore English, Singapore: Singapore Press Holdings Limited:

     [O]ne never knows how such unsolicited advice might be taken. The owner might just ask me not to be too ‘keh khiang’ (clever by half) and to mind my own business, just as he was so successfully minding his.

Verb

geh kiang (indeclinable)

1. (Singapore, Singlish) To act overly clever and end up making reckless or unwise decisions without careful consideration.
   • 2009, Jean Tay, Boom, Epigram Books, →ISBN, Act I, scene ii:

     […] Who ask you? Geh kiang lah. Think you so smart, […]