Yum cha. Macha. Kot.

You won’t find any of the aforementioned words in a dictionary. And yet, this is the kind of glossary weaved into modern day conversations among Malaysians at a local mamak or kedai runcit (convenience store).

Malaysia is a melting pot of various cultures and languages, aspects which are reflected in the country’s colourful and diverse youthful local or urban slang.

In Tamil, macha means brother-in-law. Malaysians, however, use it as another term for ‘bro’.

In his study on Malaysia’s youth language, historical linguist Tom Hoogervorst said the speech of young Malaysians “exhibits playfulness, flexibility and the desire to innovate”.

“In a country as ethnically diverse as Malaysia, it is not surprising that young people draw on a variety of sources to keep their language and subculture dynamic and up-to-date, ” Hoogervorst wrote in his paper on Malay youth language in West Malaysia.

The Malaysian slang is made up of a collection of vocabulary that borrows liberally from Malay, Chinese, Indian, English and other colloquial languages.

“Chinese Malaysians have at their disposal a diverse blend of popular culture from China, Hong Kong and Taiwan, in such languages as Cantonese, Hokkien, Mandarin, Hakka and others.