Dictionary

lor en · PART · etymology 1

Pronunciation

• /lɔ˥/ (Hong-Kong)
• /(n)ɔː˦/ (Malaysia, Singapore, sometimes) after /n/
• /lɔː˦/ (Malaysia, Singapore)

Etymology

From Cantonese 囉 /啰 (lo¹) and Hokkien 囉 /啰 (--lo͘, indicating resignation), which is itself borrowed from Cantonese.

Meanings

1. (Hong-Kong, Manglish, Singlish, colloquial) Tagged at the end of a sentence to convey a sense of resignation or inevitability.
   • Next time lor.
   • OK lor, go ahead.
   • At dusk in Sea Park Apartments, you will hear John sweeping the street and carpark downstairs. He does it almost every day, since cleaning services stopped[…]"Might as well loh," he says, when I ask why. 2023, Elroi Yee, “The apartments with no entrance”, in TheFourth:
   • Within a minute, Hougang uncle moves from denial, anger, and bargaining to “ok lor I’ll just remove them”—a quintessential Singaporean pattern of resignation. 2023 January 3, Hykel Quek, quoting Marcus, “3 Ways To Respond to Authority, According to a Fierce (but Resigned) Hougang Uncle”, in ricemedia.co, archived from the original on 25 May 2024:
   • bo pian lor.
   • We had no income, so just eat at Koufu or Kopitiam lor. 2020 December 1, Eve Lock, quoting Marcus, “Many Of Us Will Save For A Wedding, But Not Retirement”, in ricemedia.co, archived from the original on 08 Aug 2024:
   • [B]y then, it was too late, and I just told myself, ‘Ya lor. He’s right.’ 2003 November 16, Suzanne Sng, The Sunday Times, Singapore, page 16:
2. (Hong-Kong, Manglish, Singlish, colloquial) Used to suggest that there is an obvious, inevitable or straightforward answer to something.
   • young mother: You never told me you had so much money... You sure you can afford this? young father: No need to worry about that. Not enough then borrow lor. 2009, Jean Tay, Boom, Epigram Books, →ISBN, Act I, scene viii, page 41:
   • You lor, or else still got who?
   • I didn’t go to uni, just picked up the language organically from conversations around me. Twitter/Facebook, friends, news, etc … Anything I wasn’t sure of, just Google lor. 2022 July 21, Sophie Chew, quoting Visakan Veerasamy, “Afraid of ‘Saying the Wrong Thing’ About Racism? Speak Up Anyway.”, in ricemedia.co, archived from the original on 19 Jul 2024:
   • Take a cab lor, easier this way.
   • Near-synonym: lah (sense 6)
   • Wait till December lor.
   • Then tell him lor.
3. (Hong-Kong, Manglish, Singlish, colloquial) Suggests that the reply given is the obvious or expected one.
   • As a facilitator, I often ask the participants: how are you feeling now? And often, the replies I get are: "Okay lor", "Like that lor". 2024 February 6, Carrie Tan, “Advancing Mental Health”, in Parliamentary Debates: Official Report (Parliament of Singapore), volume 95:
   • It’s true for me, at least. Friends under interrogation insist that ‘Have You Eaten?’ is very much alive, but when asked to recall their last encounter, answers invariably skew towards inter-generational anecdotes. “Relatives lor” is the top reply, and “Small-talk with taxi drivers” emerged as a runner-up because many feel compelled to make conversation after the initial “PIE or CTE?” decision. 2018 September 17, Pan Jie, “Why Do We Greet Each Other By Asking, ‘Have You Eaten?’”, in ricemedia.co, archived from the original on 02 Oct 2024:
   • At my house lor.
4. (Hong-Kong, Manglish, Singlish, colloquial) Used to reinforce an opinion, sometimes in a sarcastic manner.
   • A retired senior police officer in Hong Kong on trial over the assault of a bystander during the 2014 Occupy protests said “sorry lor” for his actions in court on Friday, admitting that he hit his accuser with a baton on instinct. 2017 November 10, “‘Sorry ... what do you expect?’ says former top policeman on trial for Occupy assault”, in South China Morning Post, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 27 Nov 2022:
   • Sorry lor.
   • Ya lor / Han nor.

Forms

Deriveds

win liao lor

Relateds

already · ba1 · lor sor · know · lah1–14 · in · hor1 · leh3–6 · lor mee · Gupta · lor1 · leh1–2 · ba2 · mah · A. F. (1992) · one1–3 · hah1–3 · lor ark · only · number 1 · ah6 · volume 18 · ah1–3 · nia · liao · hor2 · what · meh · lor2–3 · leh7–11 · sia · →DOI

Synonyms

lah

lor en · ADJ · etymology 2

Meanings

1. (Hong-Kong, Manglish, Singlish, colloquial, qualifier:African-American Vernacular; Baltimore; African-American Vernacular; Baltimore, slang) Little.

Forms