As a country blessed with multiracial harmony, Malaysia has different ethnic groups living peaceably with one another, making it a melting pot wonder.
As such, Malaysian English, or Manglish, is a unique blend of different dialects and cultures. For example, you may find a lot of unique ‘add-ons’ like the ‘leh, lah, loh‘ in a normal conversation.
But did you know that some may not love it as much as we do?
A British expat named Ryan Howlett recently revealed the one common Malaysian phrase that could “easily trigger any white person” in a now-viral TikTok video.
AHHHHHHHHHH?!
In the video titled “This normal Malaysian saying will trigger any white person“, the phrase he was referring to was the ‘Ahhh?’ word!
I swear, just use it and it will trigger them.”
Ryan then explains that in the UK, the Brits would normally use terms like “Pardon me?” “Sorry”, or “Come again” whenever there’s a communication breakdown.
@ryanmahowlett Say this to trigger any white person ##malaysiatiktok ##fyp ##tiktokmalaysia ##fypシ ##triggered ##trigger ##pardon ##ahh
♬ original sound – Ryan Howlett
But when it comes to Manglish, ‘Ahhh?’ is often used to drop a hint to the opposite party that we don’t quite catch what he/she is saying.
“If I said this in the UK to my mum or dad, they would lose their mind!” laughed Ryan.
All Malaysians approve!
The video has since garnered over 800k views at the time of writing and was also shared to the r/Malaysia subreddit, where it received over 2,900 likes and 260 comments.
Many Malaysians resonated with Ryan, including one who studied in the UK sharing how the Brits were worried that they had offended him when he used the phrase.
Others took the chance to share more examples of using ‘Ah’ ‘Ha!’ ‘Haa?’ Haah’ ‘ha~ha’ in different occasions.
Another netizen, Lily The Broccoli admitted that she was triggered by the word ‘Sorry’, especially when the person didn’t do anything wrong.
What do you think har? Comment below and let us know!
Read Also:
Cover Images via TikTok
Proofreader: Sarah Yeoh
