suaku

English

Etymology

From Hokkien 山龜／山龟 (soaⁿ-ku, “mountain turtle”), from 山 (soaⁿ, “mountain”) + 龜／龟 (ku, “turtle”).

Noun

suaku (plural suakus)

1. (Singapore, informal) Someone who is not well informed; a country bumpkin.
   • 1986, “New Books”, in Asiaweek, volume 12, page 60:

     The suaku (literally "mountain tortoise" and figuratively "country bumpkin") sports a beer belly, fake brand-name apparel and oil-slick hair.

Adjective

suaku (comparative more suaku, superlative most suaku)

1. (Singapore, informal) Not well informed; backward.
   • 2003, Beng Huat Chua, Life is Not Complete Without Shopping: Consumption Culture in Singapore, →ISBN, page 88:

     Ah Lian are not simply lowly educated, they also have supposedly 'pre-modern' or sua-ku (hill tortoise, metaphor for 'backward') modes of behaviour.