pok kai

English

Alternative forms

Etymology

Cantonese 仆街 (puk1 gaai1, “fall onto street, drop dead, go to hell”), from 仆 (puk1, “fall”) + 街 (gaai1, “street”).

Pronunciation

  • (Singapore) IPA(key): /ˈpɔk̚ kai/
  • Audio (General Australian):(file)

Adjective

pok kai (not comparable)

  1. (Singlish, Manglish, slang) Having no money; broke; bankrupt.
    • 2003, Sylvia Toh Paik Choo, The complete Eh, Goondu!:
      Out shopping, child to parent. “Daddy I want this, daddy I want that.” Daddy, “Daddy pok kai awreddy[sic], ask your mummy.”
    • 2010 March 12, “No Words”, in Pearl‎[1], retrieved 5 November 2015:
      Today I went to Swensen's for dinner, even when I'm totally pok-gai.
    • 2015, “Pok Gai”, in Singaporelang - What the Singlish?‎[2], archived from the original on 3 March 2019:
      After buying my girlfriend her branded bag, I’m officially pok kai, please don’t ask me to go shopping or clubbing with you.
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