heng ah

English

Etymology

From Hokkien 幸啊 (hēng--a) or Teochew 興啊 / 兴啊 (hêng¹ a⁷); analysable as heng (“lucky”) + ah (used for emphasis).

Pronunciation

• (Singapore) IPA^(key): /ˈheŋ˦ ɑː(˧˨)/

Interjection

heng ah

1. (Manglish, Singlish) Phew!, thank goodness; expressing relief, e.g., when an extremely unlucky outcome has been avoided.
   • 2010 January 6, Victor Yek, Abyss (ebook), →ISBN:

     "Heng ah," Tan sighed. "Nightmare only."

   • 2018 November 24, Kirsten Han, “#31: Heng ah, I haven't kena defamation. (Not yet.)”, in wethecitizens.net:

     Political succession in Singapore is clear as mud but the People’s Action Party have announced the office-bearers in their central executive committee. […]

   • 2019 August 21, Lester Wong, quoting Jimmy Goh, “Wet market seafood online orders delivered to your doorstep, thankfully fresh”, in The Straits Times‎^[1], archived from the original on 25 March 2024:

     "We called it Tankfully Fresh because it's the feeling we want our customers to have when they open their package, like 'heng ah, it's fresh'," said Mr Goh, using the Hokkien term for thankfully or luckily.