If you happened to run into 12 men hollering "Swee la!" along our sunny streets in the last few days, you might just have run into Hong Kong boy group Mirror.

The band held their first concert in Singapore on May 1 — coincidentally, it was many of the members' first time on our island.

When Mothership interviewed them on Apr. 30, one segment involved teaching them Singlish.

As it turns out, we may have started something we can't stop.

'Swee la'

The first phrase we taught the group (with the help of Singaporean actor-singer-and-sometimes-Singlish-teacher Glenn Yong) was "swee la".

For the uninitiated, "swee" can be used for a variety of things, but in this case, it means great. So if someone did a good job, you can tell them they did great by saying "swee la".

This now appears to be Mirror's favourite Singlish phrase.

@mothership.nova chio bu ❌ shabu shabu ✅ #MIRRORweare #MIRROR #FEELTHEPASSION #MIROweallare #keungto #姜濤 #keungto姜濤 #tiktoksg ♬ HEYA - IVE

To our amusement, the band couldn't stop repeating the phrase for the rest of the interview, and took every opportunity they could to apply their new knowledge.

@mothership.nova a very special cake 🍔 for a very special man 😌 special thanks to hbb man @Glenn Yong #MIRRORweare #MIRROR #FEELTHEPASSION #MIROweallare #keungto #姜濤 #keungto姜濤 #tiktoksg #singapore #whattoplay #concert #music #birthday ♬ meow - ★

Even at their concert, the group unanimously shouted "swee la!" with much gusto.

Also absorbed during the short lesson were the terms "walao eh" (what the heck?) "chiobu" (pretty girl) and "yandao" (handsome guy) which the group also used on stage.

In fact, from our counting, the band shouted "chiobu" and "yandao" more than 10 times each. Consecutively.

A few members even strung "chiobu" together with the phrase "walao eh", in true blue Singaporean fashion.

Very good students.

Top photos by Livia Soh & Lee Wei Lin