Borrowed fromHindiमैना(mainā)/Urduمینا(mainā), fromSanskritमदन(madana).
minah (pluralminahs)
- Alternative spelling ofmyna
Derived fromMalay nameAminah.
minah (pluralminahs)
- (Singapore, colloquial, derogatory) AMalaygirl.
- Coordinate term:mat
1987 August 26, Ning Juita, “Culture shock for Yati, the kampung girl”, inThe Straits Times, page16:Yati feels she is lucky to get - and hold - a factory job, though it has earned her the title of"Minah Karan".
2012 April 15, Neil Humphreys, “From Cool Dude to Sad Old Man”, inThe New Paper, page34:Among the ah bengs and ah lians, the mats and theminahs, the young expats and the backpackers, he stood out like a dozen guys on a male-only dance floor singing Dancing Queen (I'll never forgive Blur for ruining my 21st birthday).
2015 October 4, Wong Kim Hoh, “At 17, she found herself with a broken home and nowhere to stay”, inThe Straits Times, page B7:“People thought I was aminah and that I would not make it but I did,” she says, using the colloquial term to describe rowdy Malay girls without drive or ambition.
2017 December 19, Audrey Leong, “YouTube duo makes curtain call”, inThe New Paper, page15:Hirzi said of their significance: “People watched theMinahs for entertainment, but there was also a lot (more) to the videos... When we were vulnerable, the characters, especially theMinahs, picked us up.”
Shortening ofAminah, a common Malay name for women.
minah (pluralminah-minah)
- (colloquial, slang) a certainwoman.
- (colloquial, slang) aJane Doe.
