Kopi-o lesen

It's ok, I have a license to monkey around

Today while watching an inept driver an insult we used in Malaysia came back to me: kopi-o lesen which means black coffee license. It referred to the practice of bad drivers bribing the road test examiner, and by extension, the licenses thus obtained.

It seems that a few years back Malaysia implemented automation to remove the examiners from sitting beside the drivers under test to put the kibosh on the practice. So hopefully kopi-o lesen will only be a memory for oldies like me. Anyway good to know that my long term memory is still working. 😉

Fumble!

While playing snooker the other night and missing some shots, this expletive from my university days came back to me.

It's easiest to explain by example so here are some:

After the exam:

A: What value for the inductance did you get for question 6?
B: 16.2 millihenry.
C: 16.2.
A: Aiyah! Fumble!

Missing the bus:

We stopped to chat and missed the last shuttle bus to the residential college and had to walk. Fumble!

Why so shy?

Why you didn't ask her out when you had a moment alone with her? Fumble, man!

Obviously it can be applied to situations where another expletive starting with fu might be used, but it also carries the implication that you are the author of your own misfortune, rather than blaming it on the universe.