minah
English
Etymology 1
Borrowed from Hindi मैना (mainā)/Urdu مینا (mainā), from Sanskrit मदन (madana).
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈmaɪnə/
- Rhymes: -aɪnə
Noun
minah (plural minahs)
- Alternative spelling of myna
Etymology 2
Derived from Malay name Aminah.
Pronunciation
- (Singapore) IPA(key): /mɪˈna/
Noun
minah (plural minahs)
- (Singapore, colloquial, derogatory) A Malay girl.
- 1987 August 26, Ning Juita, “Culture shock for Yati, the kampung girl”, in The Straits Times, page 16:
- Yati feels she is lucky to get - and hold - a factory job, though it has earned her the title of "Minah Karan".
- 2012 April 15, Neil Humphreys, “From Cool Dude to Sad Old Man”, in The New Paper, page 34:
- Among the ah bengs and ah lians, the mats and the minahs, the young expats and the backpackers, he stood out like a dozen guys on a male-only dance floor singing Dancing Queen (I'll never forgive Blur for ruining my 21st birthday).
- 2015 October 4, Wong Kim Hoh, “At 17, she found herself with a broken home and nowhere to stay”, in The Straits Times, page B7:
- “People thought I was a minah and that I would not make it but I did,” she says, using the colloquial term to describe rowdy Malay girls without drive or ambition.
- 2017 December 19, Audrey Leong, “YouTube duo makes curtain call”, in The New Paper, page 15:
- Hirzi said of their significance: “People watched the Minahs for entertainment, but there was also a lot (more) to the videos... When we were vulnerable, the characters, especially the Minahs, picked us up.”
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Usage notes
Common in spoken Singapore Colloquial English; uncommon in formal speech or discourse, though it is not uncommon in newspapers. The male equivalent is mat.