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- Jul 17, 2016
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It's no secret that Indonesians tend to be indirect, so euphemisms are common. When a word becomes common, it is no longer soft or polite enough, so a new word is invented for the purpose.
Back in the 70's (probably even the 80's) it was normal to refer to your household staff as 'babu' and 'jongos'. To soften these colonial terms, the word 'pembantu' was used. That was a perfectly polite generic word, until it's used almost exclusively for domestic helpers. Now the preferred polite term is 'asisten', an adoption of the English 'assistant'.
Give it a couple more decades and another word will be appropriated for it. Maybe 'household manager' or just 'manager'.
Back in the 70's (probably even the 80's) it was normal to refer to your household staff as 'babu' and 'jongos'. To soften these colonial terms, the word 'pembantu' was used. That was a perfectly polite generic word, until it's used almost exclusively for domestic helpers. Now the preferred polite term is 'asisten', an adoption of the English 'assistant'.
Give it a couple more decades and another word will be appropriated for it. Maybe 'household manager' or just 'manager'.