play-play

verb, adj — 2 senses

verb

Etymology Reduplication of play, influenced by Malay grammar (Malay main-main), or a calque of Mandarin 玩玩 (wánwan).

Manglish, Singlish, Invariable To mess around, to play around; to take things lightly.

Don't play-play hor.
[…] Don’t play play... This is not your basic luxury condo. […]2009, Jean Tay, Boom, Epigram Books, →ISBN, Act I, scene iv:

adj

Etymology Reduplication of play, possibly influenced by Afrikaans speel-speel.

South Africa, Colloquial Fake, toy, make-believe

They’re at the age when they want more than just a play-play watch.1989 December, Edgars Christmas Catalogue:

Entry derived from the Wiktionary, under licence CC BY-SA 4.0 — list of authors.