Powderful England

I went to watch a local play last night with a good friend of mine, Mat. The play was performed half in Hokkein and the other half in Singlish - hence accounting for that silly "Night Come Smell" song stuck in my head!

Unlike the play though, Mat is far from provincial in his language. That guy reads way too much non-fiction and watch too much Discovery channels resulting in his vacabulary clearly more 'atas' than mine.

A casual dinner conversation:

Frou: So, how's the students in your latest training course like?
Mat: Well, I would have to say that most of them are pretty sedentary
Frou: Simi 'sedentary'?
Mat: You know, erm... 'idle'?
Frou: Ok. But they still continue with the course?
Mat: Yes, but somehow I suspect that they are merely using the course as a placebo
Frou: Pla-ce-bo?
Mat: You know, like a confidence boost rather than actual building of physical stamina and strength.
Frou: Oh. Then how you feel about that?
Mat: Well, I am pretty stoic about it by now.
Frou: ARGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!

Let's just imagine if Mat has read one less book or watched one less Nat Geo program in his life.....

Frou: So, how's the students in your latest training course like?
Mat: Cannot make it lar!
Frou: But they still continue with the course?
Mat: They simply hantam only for fun, not real training wan.
Frou: Oh. Then how you feel about that?
Mat: Nothing wor. Relak la!
Frou: Jom, let's get another round of teh tarik.....