kiah su
n.— «My favorite of these is “kiah su” which is Hokkien for “afraid to lose (out)” (Mandarin pa shu). Someone who is kiah su will go to great lengths to, for example, buy something they don’t really want, because it’s a good buy and a prestigious find. We need a word for this in standard English, though I’ve just started using kiah su.» —“Singlish” by Xiaolongnu Languagehat Apr. 19, 2004. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
If you start the phrase when in Rome… but don’t finish the sentence with do as the Romans do, or say birds of a feather… without adding flock together, you’re engaging in anapodoton, a term of rhetoric that refers to the...
Chris from Kittery, Maine, wonders about the colloquial expression no sirree, Bob! or yes sirree, Bob!, which is an emphatic way of saying “definitely not!” or “no way!” The sirree (sometimes spelled with one r, as siree) in...