The word "La..." is kinda common to Malaysian either Malay or Chinese. And even Indians. I don't know what exactly "La" means but I believe that the word "La" can say is a must for every Malaysian in their daily conversation. Ala you know what I mean?
"Hurm best jugak la"
"Boleh je la"
"Kat sini lagi best la"
Or even...
"Of course cannot la"
"They told me la"
"Hey, I haven't finished my assignment yet la"
See..It's not necessary at all but why do we need to end every single sentence with "La"?
You know when was the first time I realized how common people use "La" and when I noticed it is not quite applicable? Just right after I entered Taylor's, with all my international classmates.
They would absolutely ask...
Why do Malaysian use a lot of "la"?
What does "la" really mean?
So guys, as young Malaysian who grown up in this Rojak country, how are you supposed to answer that?
See. I was like blurr...and you were like blank, dunno what to answer right? But that's the fact.
And the best answer that me and my friends(Malaysians) could atleast respond,
"Using the LA word in the last sentence is just to make the conversation sounds cool"
And then they applied "La" in every single sentence that came out from their mouth. As in.....
"Miss, can I go to the toilet LA?":
"Idora, pass the assignment to me LA"
Arghh I don't find it easy to recall what exactly they said, but you know. Yang mane tak sepatutnye LA. That sort of thing.
Well it's not exactly right after entered Taylors I realized about this thing, but it was since I knew this friend of mine from Qatar who's studying in Malaysia. Yeah he does has a lot of Malaysian friends. And I probably the 100th or 1000th of his acquaintances that he asked about the word "la".
But from what I heard, the word "la" is not originally been used in Malaysia, but in Singapore I guess.
And the second word after LA is "JOM"....As in Jom go lunch. Jom study together.
Yeah it sounds normal. But when the foreigners use the word JOM, what about it?
assalamualaikum.foreigners using JOM?thats cute!
ReplyDeleteyou can say that 'LA' is Malaysian slang.Also,its used to create a sense of emphasize on things.
Like Canadians they use the word 'ey'.not as often as Malaysians use 'LA' though.Its not uncommon for us since we have our own slang too.but people outside might be surprised on why they keep on saying the word..
i find it cool though that we have 'la' because it makes people scratch their head wanting to know what it means when really,it means nothing.
at least that differ us and that could be our identity too!people would definitely know where we from from the way we speak English.FOR REAL!=D
Haha..Yeah true. I like the last part where you said that LA could represent our identity. =)
ReplyDeleteBut yeah, I don't find it annoying at all even though I did say it's not applicable or doesn't make sense.
And even though it's kinda hard to explain what LA means, yet I would love to respond everytime they ask me. =) huhu