kao peh kao bu
More pronunciations (1)Fewer pronunciations
Singapore[ˈkʰaʊ˦˨ ˌp˭eː˨ ˈkʰaʊ˦˨ ˌbuː˦˨]
kao peh kao bu verb: to make a fuss, to complain or whine excessively, to complain to high heaven.
Verb
kao peh kao bu (invariable)
- To make a fuss, to complain or whine excessively, to complain to high heaven.
- Singaporeans genuine complains were brush aside as irrelevant KPKB.2011, truth, soc.culture.singapore (Usenet)
- Opposition sure bring up the matter
In Parliament. They will kao peh kao bu
Ask why government agency
Not doing their work properly
Make the minister malu.2012, Alfian Sa'at, “All You Young People Will Take Over: Branson, Chinese, taxi driver, 40’s”, in Cooling Off Day, Singapore: Ethos Books
Forms of kao peh kao bu
| alternative form | kao pei kao bu |
|---|---|
| alternative form | kpkb |
| alternative form | KPKB |
Origin of kao peh kao bu
From Hokkien 哭爸哭母 (khàu-pē-khàu-bú, “to complain to high heaven”, literally “to quarrel with one’s parents; to weep for one’s father and mother”).
Questions about kao peh kao bu
- What does kao peh kao bu mean?
- Kao peh kao bu means to make a fuss, to complain or whine excessively, to complain to high heaven.
- What part of speech is kao peh kao bu?
- Kao peh kao bu is a verb.
- How do you pronounce kao peh kao bu?
- Kao peh kao bu is pronounced [ˈkʰaʊ˦˨ ˌp˭eː˨ ˈkʰaʊ˦˨ ˌbuː˦˨] (Singapore).
Words near kao peh kao bu in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: kao peh kao bu (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Cite this entry: “kao peh kao bu.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/kao_peh_kao_bu. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.