From Dan Tat to Jialat: How Chinese Dialects Dominated Oxford English Dictionary's Latest Update

In late March, the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) released its first quarterly update of the year, adding more than 500 new words and senses while revising nearly a thousand existing entries. Such regular updates are the event of the season that has resonance among word watchers and culture observers across the globe.

For over two decades, I have traced Chinese-derived words – whether borrowed from standard Chinese or its dialects, coined through translation, or born of pidgin origins – as they earn a spot in the world's most authoritative English dictionary. The OED, whose preeminence remains unchallenged, thus forms the bedrock of my lexical research.

About a week before each quarterly release, the OED's "Recently Added" section offers early clues. This time, I sensed something noteworthy. When the update dropped, the "Overview" confirmed new additions from China's Hong Kong, the Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore, South Africa and Ireland. Cantonese dominates in Hong Kong, while Hokkien has left deep imprints across Singapore, Malaysia and the Philippines. Both are Chinese dialects. This update would yield treasure.

Scanning the full list, I ultimately confirmed eight Chinese-derived words among the 500 new entries – the largest batch in nearly a decade.

A feast of flavors

Food took center stage. Half of these new additions relate to eating and drinking:

Dan tat [蛋挞] (n.): Borrowed from Cantonese, this is defined as "an open tart with a pastry crust and an egg custard filling."

Pineapple bun [菠萝包] (n.): A calque (direct translation) of the Cantonese bo loh baau. It is described as "a sweet bun originating in Hong Kong, topped with a crust of sugar, butter, and flour that creates a cracked texture resembling pineapple skin." Ironically, the bun contains no pineapple.

Singapore noodles [星洲炒米粉] (n.): Another calque, this time of the Cantonese sing jau chau maih fan. Defined as "thin rice noodles stirfried with meat (typically char siu), prawns, vegetables, eggs, and curry powder." Despite the name, the dish originated in Hong Kong and has no connection to Singapore.

Yin yeung [鸳鸯(奶茶)] (n.): Borrowed from Cantonese, this refers to "a Hong Kong-originated drink mixing tea, brewed coffee, sugar and milk," served either hot or cold.

Street slang and everyday speech

The remaining four reflect everyday language – slang from the streets:

Jialat [吃力] (adj.): From Singapore English (via Hokkien). Originally meaning "tiresome," it now commonly describes a disastrous situation or a person in serious trouble.

Kaypoh [鸡婆] (adj., n., v.): Common in Singapore and Malaysia. It defines "an interfering busybody" who meddles in others' affairs. Its roots lie in Hokkien.

Lap sap [垃圾] (n.): From Hong Kong English (via Cantonese), meaning "rubbish" or "debris," and figuratively, "nonsense."

Play play [玩玩] (v.): Used in Singapore and Malaysia to mean "to fool around" or "waste time." Often used as a warning ("don't play play"), its structure highlights the influence of Chinese grammatical reduplication, with features typical of Chinese pidgin English.

Why these words? Why now?

The OED releases updates every March, June, September and December. The March 2026 edition stands out for featuring eight Chinese-derived borrowings, the highest number in a decade.

Significantly, all eight words come from Chinese dialects in Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaysia – none from standard Chinese as spoken on the Chinese mainland. This reveals a clear pattern: Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaysia are former British colonies where English is an official language or a common lingua franca. This unique environment generates abundant local English usage that can influence the global stage. Cantonese and Hokkien have served as rich sources of vocabulary in these regions. Furthermore, the OED's recent lexicographical focus has been targeted at these areas. It is only natural that such culture-specific words would be recognized.

In contrast, the Chinese mainland, where English is not a daily language for the vast majority, produces fewer homegrown English corpora, making it harder for standard Chinese borrowings to gain the same global foothold.

The power of Chinese dialects, as evidenced by the Cantonese and Hokkien influence on the English language, may provide plenty of food for thought.

Mandarin entries

In spite of all this, Mandarin-derived expressions did enter, albeit sporadically, the English lexicon, as documented in the OED.

My database indicates that such additions in the past two decades include, inter alia, baguazhang (八卦掌 a traditional Chinese martial art; first published in June 2025), boba (波霸 a cold drink of Taiwan origin; first published in March 2018), hongbao (红包 a traditional Chinese good luck gift of money; first published in September 2016), bao (包 a steamed bread roll with a savory or sweet filling; first published in June 2016), wuxia (武侠 a genre of Chinese fiction or film featuring itinerant warriors of ancient China; first published in September 2010), qipao (旗袍 a type of dress traditionally worn by Chinese women; first published in December 2007), and jiaozi (饺子 a crescent-shaped dumpling with savory stuffing; first published in December 2006).

With each new addition to the OED, we see the quiet power of culture to shape global English. Words from Cantonese and Hokkien are now etched into the dictionary's pages, a testament to migration, trade, and daily life across continents.

Looking ahead, as China's connections with the world grow tighter, it is almost certain that more Mandarin and dialect terms will follow. Language, after all, is a bridge.