Bali Culture – Indonesian Language
Mastering the Indonesian Language
The first word you will learn in Indonesia is ‘Makan’, which is the most important word in the Indonesian Language as it means ‘Eat’. Then you will learn ‘Terima Makasih’, ‘Thank You’, closely followed by ‘Nasi’, ‘rice’(also very important!).
But there are some Indonesian language phrases that don’t exactly translate. Here are some of the funny ones:
1. An Indonesian is not called a ‘Playboy’ or ‘Womaniser’, he’s a ‘Land Crocodile’ (buaya daret)
2. Indonesians do not ‘go to the toilet’, they either ‘throw a small water’ or ‘throw a big water’ (buang air kecil) or (buang air besar)
3. There are no ‘speed bumps’ in Indonesia, only ‘sleeping policeman’ (polisi tidur)
4. Indonesians don’t spend their time ‘checking each other out’, they go and ‘wash thier eyes’ (cuci mata)
5. An Indonesian is never ‘two faced’ he is a ‘sheep with make up on’ (kambing dibedakin)
6. Indonesians are not ‘coy’, they are ‘shy shy kitten’ (malu-malu kucing)
7. Indonesians do not have ‘beauty marks’ they have ‘fly poos’ (tahi lalat)
8. An Indonesian does not ‘lose interest’ in his passion, he gets the ‘warm-warm chicken shit’ (hangat-hangat tahi ayam)
9 An Indonesian will not tell you they are ‘tired’, they will say they have ‘five-watt left’ (tinggal lima watt)
10 Indonesians do not ‘get angry’ they ‘pig blindly’ (membabi buta)
11 Indonesians are never ‘inept leaders’, they are ‘toothless tigers’ (macan ompong)
12 An Indonesian does not ‘catch a cold’, they ‘enter wind’ (masuk angina)
13 An Indonesian will not order their eggs ‘sunny side up’, they ask for ‘cows eye eggs’ (telur mata sapi)
14 Indonesians do not go ‘out for dinner’ or ‘to the movies’, they go ‘walking-walking’ (jalan-jalan), which can literally mean any leisure activity outside the house.
Next time you are waiting for an Indonesian you should also remember the culture of ‘rubber time’ (jam karet).
To experience some of the Indonesian culture for yourselves, check out our Diving Indo land tours