Etymology

where got

Today it means: Used to challenge the validity of an assertion. Full definition →

Hokkien 佗落有
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The story

  1. Hokkien · calque of佗落有“how is it […] ?”
  2. English todaywhere got

Compare Hokkien 佗落有 (tó-lo̍h ū, “how is it […] ?”, literally “where is there”). 有 (“have; there is”) is rendered as got in Singlish. Also compare Malay mana ada and Mandarin 哪裡有 /哪里有 (nǎlǐ yǒu).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.