bao toh

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English

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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From Hokkien 包刀 (pau-to, “wrapped knife”), referring to backstabbing.

Pronunciation

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Verb

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bao toh (third-person singular simple present bao tohs, present participle bao tohing, simple past and past participle bao tohed)

  1. (Singapore, informal, Singlish) To inform on someone behind his or her back.
    • 2003 September 1, “pao toh”, in Talkingcock.com[1], retrieved 2015-11-02:
      Eh butok lah! Which bastard paotoh to teacher that I carry handphone to school? Now kena confiscate!
    • 2011, Jonathan Heng, “Bao Toh, v.”, in Singslang.blogspot.sg[2], retrieved 2015-11-02:
      I saw Gary looking at his textbook during the test. Wanna bao toh him?
    • 2014 July 3, David Lee, “Beng in Brazil: Not the Only Singaporean to Leave a Mark at the World Cup”, in Tnp.sg[3], retrieved 2015-11-02:
      Don't pao toh (snitch on) me hor!
    • 2015 September 27, PeaNutButter Studios, “Everyday Singlish”, in Youtube.com[4], retrieved 2015-11-02:
      Hey! Don’t bao toh me leh!

Usage notes

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Most commonly used in uninflected form.