bo bian

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English

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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From Hokkien 無變无变 (bô-piàn, “no choice”).

Pronunciation

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Interjection

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bo bian

  1. (Singapore, Malaysia, informal) No choice; it cannot be helped.
    • 2006, Stuart Lloyd, Gone Troppo: Hot Babes, Warm Weather, Cold Beer. Paradise!, Monsoon Books, page 13:
      In Singapore, there is no choice being one of the world’s twenty smallest countries. Boh pien ah.
    • 2011 August 21, Kirsten, “It's Singlish Lah!”, in SEA Youth Say So[1], retrieved 2015-10-22:
      Eh, if cannot finish the work then bo bian must stay back
    • 2013, Lena Chen, EFT Meditations, Trafford Publishing, page 8:
      I have been sleep deprived for the past few days, and a friend who knows about it just sent me an online message: “Notti (lingo-speak for naughty) ah…still don’t sleep.” My reply, “Bobian (Singaporean-English term for no choice), I’m a workaholic…”
    • 2015 September 22, CLEO MAGAZINE, “11 WORDS THAT EVERY SINGAPOREAN WOULD UNDERSTAND”, in CLEO[2], archived from the original on 4 March 2016:
      He already paid for my ticket so even if I was busy, boh pien, I would have to go.

Anagrams

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