I tell you

English

Etymology 1

Phrase

I tell you

  1. (idiomatic, colloquial) Synonym of I can tell you.

Etymology 2

From Etymology 1, or a calque of Hokkien 我共汝講 / 我共汝讲 (oá kā lí kóng, “let me tell you something; listen up”).

Phrase

I tell you

  1. (Singapore, Singlish) Used to draw attention to something one has to say.
    Today weather fucking hot I tell you.
    • 1989, Eleanor Wong, Jackson on a Jaunt, or, Mistaken Identities, page 1, lines 18–20:
      Luckily for us your son earns a good living. I tell you. I don’t know what we did when Jack was in school.
Usage notes

This phrase often collocates with the filler word ah /ɑː˨˦/, which is used before a pause in speech for emphasis and provides no additional meaning.

I tell you ah, no-one got time to do this kind of thing nowadays.
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