NETIZEN ASKS WHY S’POREANS KEEP USING THE WORD “ACTUALLY” SO MANY TIMES

Why Do Singaporeans Use “Actually” So Frequently? It’s almost as if every statement made is supposed to be special.

“This dining table is actually made of wood. I actually got it on sale, and while I don’t actually use it for dining, it actually sees frequent poker action with my friends.”

The above is a bit exaggerated, but you know what I mean. A simple YouTube video will easily show this. I’m actually certain this isn’t actually Singlish.

Netizens’ comments

1. Actually you are right
2. actually what we say is acherly
3. Filler words. It’s not just “actually”, but also words like “like”, “so”, “basically”, etc. I credit it to our mouths running faster than our brains, and we automatically use filler words while our brains catch up. Sometimes it’s helpful to plan out our words before speaking them.
4. I know of a colleague who will start his sentences with Actually. Sometimes he switch to start with Basically
5. Actually its not really much of the meaning of the word but actually you can grab more attention with that. Actually i think thats a hypothesis from me, Actually
6. I find the word “itself” to be much more common, and much more cringeworthy. Just watch any Property Lim Brothers video and you’ll know what I mean.
   “So this 5 bedroom unit itself has been tastefully renovated. It is located right in the heart of district 11 itself.”
7. I mean what really is “singlish”. we’ve never properly defined it and it can be said that using the word “actually” is just a singlish thing. Language is interesting in the sense that words have trends and actually is just a popular word that used in sg a lot. Theres no particular reason behind it, the same way Irish people use the word “wee” they’re not genuinely referring to something as small its just a thing for them.
8. Actually because it helps us to prep the listener that we are about to present a different viewpoint from what he is expecting. So it’s a very efficient way to do that in one word.
9. Because, in general, Singaporeans tend to be quite sceptical and cynical. So we use “actually” to mean for real, not like real.