• Kay poh or ”鸡婆” originated from the Hokkien (Minnan) term “牙婆”. In the olden days, “牙婆” referred to women who were involved in human trafficking and helped court officials find concubines or hand servants.

The road was closed for several hours, but the lorry came right through and parked illegally on the side of the road. An engineer who happened to be jogging by looked at the lorry driver with curiosity, which in turn irritated the driver, who sounded his lorry’s horn. The engineer was so angered by the driver that he tried to take a photo of the driver to report to the authorities. The driver scolded the engineer “kaypoh”, and the two started arguing on the street. Before leaving, the driver struck the engineer’s chest hard and the enraged engineer reported the incident to the police. (Lianhe Zaobao, 31/3/2019)

家婆 (Taiwan)，三姑六婆 (Malaysia, Mainland China, Taiwan)

• The term “kaypoh” is widely used, both colloquially and in print. It is spelled kaypoh in English, kepoh in Malay, and kepo in Bahasa Indonesia.