The Hardwarezone forum, Eat Drink Man Woman (EDMW), is the most popular discussion forum in Singapore.

Topics discussed in EDMW are as wide-ranging and colourful as its forum members. Many news reporters actually rely on EDMW for breaking news tip-offs. Many office-workers rely on EDMW to get through boring office hours.

One of the defining characteristics of this forum, which also happens to be a barrier of entry for forum newbies, is the perplexing and enigmatic forum lingo and acronym system which forum-goers use.

To de-mystify things for the average non-forum going Singaporean, here's a guide on some of the more popular acroynms and words EDMWers (people who frequent EDMW) use.

1. GPGT

This is probably the most commonly used acronym on the forum. GPGT means 'Got Picture Got Talk'. Whether the thread is talking about something interesting which happened in the neighbourhood or if it is talking about a hot korean pop star, in EDMW, threads are useless without pictures. So threads with GPGT promises pictures. To get a flavour of what GPGT threads in EDMW are, all you have to do is do a Google Image search of 'GPGT'.

2. NPNT

And if you dare to start topics regarding hot women or interesting topics without any accompanying pictures, NPNT, or No Picture No Talk, is probably the mildest thing you'll be scolded with.

You'll get entertaining jpg/gif retorts if you're lucky:

3. MLMLWM

This stands for 'Mai Lah Mai Lah Wa Mai', which is Hokkien for 'No, no, I do not want this'. Usually used when EDMWers see pictures of girls that they do not find attractive. Or they would use the official MLMLWM meme below:

4. SIC

When you hear of good deals or big discounts to share, it's time to 'Sharing is Caring' on the forum. SIC please!

5. 154th media

A name used to describe the mainstream media. 154th is the ranking of Singapore's Freedom of the Press World Ranking in 2007. The ranking has not changed much and the number 154 just stuck with people.

 Source

6. NMNHNLM

It means 'No Money, No Honey, Nobody Love Me'. Usually used to describe the plight of several EDMWers who cannot find a RCP/girlfriend.

7. RCP

'Real Cheesepie'. It's not a pie made of cheese in case you're wondering. 'Cheesepie' sounds very much like the Hokkien swear word for the vagina. And an RCP describes a real girl on the EDMW forum. It's very rare for girls to be active on the forum. One of the more prolific RCPs on EDMW, who is also dubbed the 'Forum Goddess' is a girl using the forum handle 'Chibabom'. Usually EDMWers who claim that they are female will be called out to be FCPs, or 'Fake Cheesepies'.

8. GCP

Now that you know what a 'Cheesepie' is, GCP means a Gold or Golden Cheesepie. This is usually used to describe materialistic women or women with unrealistic expectations of Singaporean men. The idea behind this naming convention was that some EDMWers felt that some women valued themselves so much as if they were made of gold. This thread, 'How many percentage of sinkies gers is non-GCP?', discusses some views of GCPs in Singapore.

9. DCP

What's more precious than gold? Yup, you got it, it's diamonds. However, DCP is not usually used to describe women with high expectations like GCP. DCPs are usually daughters of very rich men. Prominent bloggers, socialites and instagrammers usually fall under this category. One example is this thread '[GPGT] Daughter of Singapore billionaire business tycoon Peter Lim'.

10. CSB 

When you start a thread talking about how you hooked up with a hot babe in the club, most EDMWers will reply you with 'CSB' or 'Cool Story Bro'. Because if it really happened, you better GPGT.

11. CSI

Crime Scene Investigation. It's one of EDMW's most powerful assets. If someone pisses EDMWers off enough, they will activate the EDMW CSI army, which is something like crowdsourced cyber investigation. Usually they will be able to find your name, photograph, phone number and home address within the hour. The famous Nparks Brompton Bike saga was uncovered by the EDMW CSI army.

12. Sauce/Curry Sauce

It actually just means 'Source'. When someone asks for the sauce, it's not ketchup. They want to know where is the source of your news/rumour. EDMWers believe in fact-checking, ok!

13. This thread is not simple / Lim Kopi thread

This usually means that someone said something highly controversial in the thread that may catch the police's attention. They may even be invited to drink coffee with the police or Internal Security Department.

 Source

14. 10kkj

10 = ten.

kkj = kukujiao = penis.

10 penis = Tampines.

15. Robert

'Robert' actually sounds quite close to the chinese words for carrot. And 'chopping carrot head' means that you got conned by a salesman, or strung along by a girl who took you as a money tree. So a 'Robert' is usually a guy who was taken a ride by a GCP.

16. XMM

Xiao Mei Mei. Usually just refers to a cute girl.

17. Song song gao Jurong / Joo Koon

'Song song gao' is Hokkien for 'shiok until'. So 'song song gao Jurong' means 'shiok until Jurong' which doesn't make sense - but it's Jurong just because it rhymes with 'song song'. It became Joo Koon when the last stop on the west side of the EW line became Joo Koon.

18. MKLGHLG

It's Hokkien for 'Mai Ka Li Gong, Hor Li Gian'. It means 'I'm not telling you just so you can crave for it'. You can use it on other EDMWers when you know the sauce of the pictures of the cute XMM DCP and you don't want to SIC.

Of course there are a lot more acronyms and EDMW specific words there are not mentioned. The only way to truly appreciate the quirkiness and fun of EDMW is to visit it everyday.

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