sotong

Borrowed from Malay sotong (“squid”).

• (Singapore) IPA^(key): /ˈsɔtɔŋ/, /ˈsoːtɔŋ/

sotong (plural sotong)

1. (Singapore, Malaysia) Squid; cuttlefish.
2. (Singlish, Manglish) Used in similes to describe someone who is confused and clueless, i.e., blur.

   Blur like sotong

   • 2002 July 22, Hwee Hwee Tan, “A War of Words Over ‘Singlish’”, in Time‎^[1], archived from the original on 28 January 2025:

     If a Singaporean gets frustrated at your stupidity, he can scold you for being blur as sotong (clueless as a squid).

Inherited from Malay sotong.

• (Standard Indonesian) IPA^(key): /ˈsɔtɔŋ/ [ˈsɔ.t̪ɔŋ]
• Rhymes: -ɔtɔŋ
• Syllabification: so‧tong

sotong (plural sotong-sotong)

1. cuttlefish

   Synonym: balakutak

2. octopus

   Synonym: gurita

• “sotong”, in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia [Great Dictionary of the Indonesian Language] (in Indonesian), Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Compare Brunei Malay sutung, Pattani Malay سوتوْڠ / ซูตง.

Sense of effeminance from stereotype of mannerisms reminiscent of the movement of its tentacles.

• (Baku, schwa-variety) IPA^(key): /ˈsotoŋ/ [ˈso.t̪oŋ]
• Rhymes: -otoŋ, -toŋ, -oŋ
• Hyphenation: so‧tong

sotong (Jawi spelling سوتوڠ, plural sotong-sotong or sotong²)

1. squid (sea animal), esp. of the family Loliginidae

   Synonyms: cumi, cumi-cumi

2. any soft-bodied cephalopod

   sotong kurita: octopus

   sotong katak: cuttlefish, Sepiidae

3. (Malaysia, derogatory) an effeminate man, a pansy or fruit

• > Indonesian: sotong (inherited)
• → Chinese: 蘇東 / 苏东
• → English: sotong

sotong (Jawi spelling سوتوڠ, comparative lebih sotong, superlative paling sotong)

1. (Malaysia, derogatory) effeminate, fruity

   Synonym: pondan

• Pijnappel, Jan (1875), “سوتڠ sotong”, in Maleisch-Hollandsch woordenboek, John Enschede en Zonen, Frederik Muller, page 36
• Wilkinson, Richard James (1901), “سوتڠ sotong”, in A Malay-English dictionary, Hong Kong: Kelly & Walsh limited, page 417
• Wilkinson, Richard James (1932), “sotong”, in A Malay-English dictionary (romanised), volume II, Mytilene, Greece: Salavopoulos & Kinderlis, page 489

• "sotong" in Pusat Rujukan Persuratan Melayu (PRPM) [Malay Literary Reference Centre (PRPM)] (in Malay), Kuala Lumpur: Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka, 2017