Belly-aching in different places

"He is such a good story teller. I laughed until (my) stomach-ache(d)!"

Over breakfast, my friends and I were recounting highlights of a conference we had just attended some weeks ago. What my friend said (above) is a typical description of how hard she laughed at the story, using Singlish or the form of English commonly spoken in Singapore.

"Will you quit belly-aching?"

In America, especially in the south, this retort is used when someone keeps on complaining about something.

While the two sentences have vastly different connotations, the analogy is the same: the stomach, or belly, aches. In Singapore, it is a funny occurrence, while in America, it causes annoyance to others.

These two sentences may never cross the cultural and geographical divide, but they certainly make for an interesting topic of discussion.

Here's to the uniqueness of English spoken in different parts of the world!