Playing with language

[Terry MacArsey]

I realise that English can be a difficult language to precisely let a person know what you mean but Indonesian also has a lot of opportunities to play with the language.

I've got a few examples but I'm sure there are a lot more out there.


My wife used to have a kiosk selling Rice and Rinso, as well as other things.

I don't know if it's just where we live but we had at least 4 or 5 people every night asking my wife for "obat nyamuk".

I would always reply "Ado, kasihan itu nyamuk. Kenapa tidak bawa ke rumah sakit supaya bisa di-infus. Begitu pasti itu nyamuk akan cepat sembuh".

Almost all of the Indonesians thought what I was saying was funny but realised they should have been asking for anti-nyamuk rather than medicine.



Another one is when someone says "Boleh saya minta..."

E.g. "Boleh saya minta rokok"

I always answer "Iyo, boleh ... boleh minta" and then after a pause I carry on to say " tapi saya tidak kasih...tapi tidak apa2 kamu minta".

I'm normally just joking and give them a cigarette but after saying the intial "boleh...boleh minta" they are confused why I don't seem to be reaching for my cigarettes



Or if I've just come back back from the market carrying fish.

The locals will ask "Berapa ?"

I always count the fish and reply (for example I've got two fish in my hand) "Dua"

"Dua ribu ?" comes the reply from the confused local.

"Bukan, dua ekor"




Or, almost the reverse,

e.g. if I've just bought a television the locals ask "Beli berapa ?"

I would answer "Satu"

More confusion reigns. "Satu juta ?"

"Bukan, satu televisi"



Last one for now. Where we are, a large knife that's typically used in the kebun or in the kitchen is called a Peda

I asked the locals how to say the following in Indonesian :

English Answer

One week - Seminggu
One glass - Segelas
One hundred - Seratus

so then I asked them how to say one knife.

Most were just about to say Sepeda but after thinking said Satu buah peda but I nearly got them.



Anyone else like winding up the locals with their language ?

 

[Tupai Hitam]

I'd expect no less from someone named Terry McArsey.

There are, of course, Indonesian/English word games employed by school kids, such as, give the English for "Ibu dorong sapi" and "dasi dan kursi" and "Kamu tonjok gigi roti-roti-roti saya merah muda matahari".

Easy to invent your own, such as "pelaut tikar boleh anak domba".

I'm not often given to winding people up, but if (when I'm walking in Jakarta) a stranger asks "Mister mau kemana?" then I may reply "Jakarta".

 

[ukcouple]

I've got a few examples but I'm sure there are a lot more out there.

Yes.. i like your examples.

Just wondering how many Indonesians get the humor first time.?

 

[ukcouple]

I'm not often given to winding people up, but if (when I'm walking in Jakarta) a stranger asks "Mister mau kemana?" then I may reply "Jakarta".

same like.. "Mister dari mana?" then I may reply "dari sono"

 

[Terry MacArsey]

I'd expect no less from someone named Terry McArsey.

Sorry, I don't understand what you mean. Childish humour possibly ? Ok, fair enough.

There are, of course, Indonesian/English word games employed by school kids, such as, give the English for "Ibu dorong sapi" and "dasi dan kursi" and "Kamu tonjok gigi roti-roti-roti saya merah muda matahari".

Easy to invent your own, such as "pelaut tikar boleh anak domba".

Ibu dorong sapi = Mother push cow ?
Dasi dan kursi - tie and chair ?
Kamu tonjok gigi roti-roti-roti saya merah muda matahari = you punch tooth bread I am pink sun ?
Pelaut tikar boleh anak domba = sailor mat can lamb ?

It seems my Indonesian isn't very good or I'm missing something.

I'm not often given to winding people up

Bad choice of words by me. My real intention is just to have a bit of fun with people rather than wind them up or annoy them.

Just wondering how many Indonesians get the humor first time.?[/QUOTE]

I get your point. I'm starting to understand what you mean.

Just thought it would be fun to hear things that other people thought were funny like buying kedondong in Jakarta and saying "Saya minta kedondong dong" always sounded funny to me.

Maybe it's just my sense of humour, or lack of it.

 

[Tupai Hitam]

Sorry, I don't understand what you mean. Childish humour possibly ? Ok, fair enough.

It's a fun name, that's all. Hence no surprise that you have a fondness for wordplay.

Ibu dorong sapi = Mother push cow ?
Dasi dan kursi - tie and chair ?
Kamu tonjok gigi roti-roti-roti saya merah muda matahari = you punch tooth bread I am pink sun ?
Pelaut tikar boleh anak domba = sailor mat can lamb ?

Ibu dorong sapi = Mum push cow = mampus kau! = drop dead.
Dasi dan kursi = tie and chair = tai encer! = the visible result of diarrhea.
Kamu tonjok gigi roti-roti-roti saya merah muda matahari = you hit tooth I pink sun = you hitut, I pingsan = You fart, I faint. (Hitut is Sundanese for kentut.)
Pelaut tikar boleh anak domba = sailor mat may lamb = selamat malam = this one is pretty feeble.

In the spirit of your sense of humor, I once asked a newly arrived foreigner to buy me some condensed milk. I taught him to say "susu kental manis" except I carelessly put an 'o' in kental instead of the 'a'.

 

[Joko]

You've covered the best of these types of jokes, a couple of which I've made myself.... particularly the "dari mana?" one.

The best language joke I ever came up with in Indonesian is when I invented a new word: penggiting. It seemed to me that if someone who likes getting mabok is a pemabok, then someone who likes getting giting would be a penggiting. Just made sense to me, but my friends found this new word very amusing.

 

[Terry MacArsey]

Ibu dorong sapi = Mum push cow = mampus kau! = drop dead.
Dasi dan kursi = tie and chair = tai encer! = the visible result of diarrhea.
Kamu tonjok gigi roti-roti-roti saya merah muda matahari = you hit tooth I pink sun = you hitut, I pingsan = You fart, I faint. (Hitut is Sundanese for kentut.)
Pelaut tikar boleh anak domba = sailor mat may lamb = selamat malam = this one is pretty feeble.

Ah! Now I understand but I'm not surprised I didn't get any of them. I used mother instead of mum for the first one and people say kamu rather than kau where I am.
2nd one, I know the word mencret but didn't know encer
3rd one, didn't know hitut
4th one is the one I could have got but I used can rather than may for boleh.

I've started building a houseboat and I'm calling the company Bule Boleh Bajo which I intend to mean tourists can be like sea gipsies. People in the Togians tend to say Bajo rather than Bajau so I hope Boleh can mean both can or may.

I like the one about condensed milk. My wife used to teach tourists to ask for kopi susah for coffee with milk

 

[Terry MacArsey]

You've covered the best of these types of jokes, a couple of which I've made myself.... particularly the "dari mana?" one.

I quite often reply "dari Inggris" if I feel someone is being a bit nosey or "dari pasar" if I think they're trying to find out which country I'm from.

If my son asks where his mum is I often answer "disana" so he'll ask "disana mana?". Then I reply "saya tidak tahu tapi dia tidak ada disini berarti dia harus ada disana".

Another one is "mau ke mana" or "ke mana going" as they often say in Pulau Weh to which I've heard "dari belakang ke depan" or "cari angin" which is basically mind your own business.

Sorry, I didn't understand the penggiting joke. but it reminded me a bit of my stepdaughter.

Her name is Fitri but everyone calls her Iting, so I've always called her Iting Kepiting. A guy called Ucu, I call Ucu Lucu and a guy called Ambang I call Ambang Susilo.

I'm starting to realise it must be a bit of a nightmare having a conversation with me hehe.

 

[Pak Asam Manis]

I'm starting to realise it must be a bit of a nightmare having a conversation with me hehe.

Ada sesuatu "gondrong", Pak? Hati hati kata katanya ya ...

 

[Terry MacArsey]

Ada sesuatu "gondrong", Pak? Hati hati kata katanya ya ...

In other words, not gondrong as I know it, long hair, but something else that's long as far as I understand it.

Yes, you have to listen very carefully.

So, as I'm nearly bald I could joke to a friend "Saya botak tapi ada sesuatu gondrong" ?

 

[Banana72]

I realise that English can be a difficult language to precisely let a person know what you mean but Indonesian also has a lot of opportunities to play with the language.

I've got a few examples but I'm sure there are a lot more out there.


My wife used to have a kiosk selling Rice and Rinso, as well as other things.

I don't know if it's just where we live but we had at least 4 or 5 people every night asking my wife for "obat nyamuk".

I would always reply "Ado, kasihan itu nyamuk. Kenapa tidak bawa ke rumah sakit supaya bisa di-infus. Begitu pasti itu nyamuk akan cepat sembuh".

Almost all of the Indonesians thought what I was saying was funny but realised they should have been asking for anti-nyamuk rather than medicine.



Another one is when someone says "Boleh saya minta..."

E.g. "Boleh saya minta rokok"

I always answer "Iyo, boleh ... boleh minta" and then after a pause I carry on to say " tapi saya tidak kasih...tapi tidak apa2 kamu minta".

I'm normally just joking and give them a cigarette but after saying the intial "boleh...boleh minta" they are confused why I don't seem to be reaching for my cigarettes



Or if I've just come back back from the market carrying fish.

The locals will ask "Berapa ?"

I always count the fish and reply (for example I've got two fish in my hand) "Dua"

"Dua ribu ?" comes the reply from the confused local.

"Bukan, dua ekor"




Or, almost the reverse,

e.g. if I've just bought a television the locals ask "Beli berapa ?"

I would answer "Satu"

More confusion reigns. "Satu juta ?"

"Bukan, satu televisi"



Last one for now. Where we are, a large knife that's typically used in the kebun or in the kitchen is called a Peda

I asked the locals how to say the following in Indonesian :

English Answer

One week - Seminggu
One glass - Segelas
One hundred - Seratus

so then I asked them how to say one knife.

Most were just about to say Sepeda but after thinking said Satu buah peda but I nearly got them.



Anyone else like winding up the locals with their language ?

I remember my uncle's ex-driver used the word 'obat' to substitute pretty much anything..in his mind obat=Chemical. So...I had asked him one day, how did he manage to make my car so shiny after he washed it...he said "Pake obat" (wax). The windows..why they're so clean.he said.."Obat kaca" (Glass cleaner)..."Obat kulit" Thought he had skin issues...turned out, he needed a leather cleaner (for the leather chairs..).

 

[Terry MacArsey]

I remember my uncle's ex-driver used the word 'obat' to substitute pretty much anything..in his mind obat=Chemical.

Thanks Banana, you've just reminded me of a time my wife went to the local ATM, 5 hours away by ferry.

While she was away I got a really nasty eye infection so I sent a text message to her to explain the situation.

Within half an hour, my very helpful wife sent me a text back saying she had bought me some "obat mati"!

 

[Banana72]

Thanks Banana, you've just reminded me of a time my wife went to the local ATM, 5 hours away by ferry.

While she was away I got a really nasty eye infection so I sent a text message to her to explain the situation.

Within half an hour, my very helpful wife sent me a text back saying she had bought me some "obat mati"!

Not sure what "Obat mati" is but if my wife were to say to me.."Here you go honey, an obat mati for you". I'd probably be nervous as heck lol.

 

[Terry MacArsey]

Not sure what "Obat mati" is but if my wife were to say to me.."Here you go honey, an obat mati for you". I'd probably be nervous as heck lol.

Yes, you should be nervous. Obat is medicine. Eye in Indonesian is mata. Luckily my wife bought me obat mata, medicine for my eye.

Mati in English means dead. My wife wrote in her text message she'd bought me "obat mati" in other words, medicine for death !

 

[Pak Asam Manis]

I remember my uncle's ex-driver used the word 'obat' to substitute pretty much anything..in his mind obat=Chemical. So...I had asked him one day, how did he manage to make my car so shiny after he washed it...he said "Pake obat" (wax). The windows..why they're so clean.he said.."Obat kaca" (Glass cleaner)..."Obat kulit" Thought he had skin issues...turned out, he needed a leather cleaner (for the leather chairs..).

I definitely took some time to adjust to this whole "obat" terminology, as in, yes, obat nyamuk. Why would we want to give "medicine" to mosquitos?

I finally got the hang of it after a (long) while, and it makes sense to me now. The use of "obat" is in conceptual terms of a "curative" (aka treatment) for any malady or problem. In this context, "obat nyamuk" and even your uncle's ex-driver's terminologies seem to make more sense, I think.

 

[Pak Asam Manis]

Thanks Banana, you've just reminded me of a time my wife went to the local ATM, 5 hours away by ferry.

While she was away I got a really nasty eye infection so I sent a text message to her to explain the situation.

Within half an hour, my very helpful wife sent me a text back saying she had bought me some "obat mati"!

Haha, sorry, I don't think there is any effective "obat" yet for that.

 

[Terry MacArsey]

Haha, sorry, I don't think there is any effective "obat" yet for that.

Yes, my wife had made an error typing the message to me which we both thought was funny although I'm sure quite often she wishes she'd bought me obat mati rather than obat mata and then just kept quiet about it !

 

[tihzho]

Masuk anjing is far more serious than masuk angin

 

[Terry MacArsey]

Masuk anjing is far more serious than masuk angin

Haha, nice one.

Whenever anyone says "hati hati" to me I always reply "sebelum mati".

It normally gets a bit of a laugh but it also helped me to work out the meanings for belum, sebelum, sudah and sesudah when I was first learning Indonesian so playing with words has quite often helped me to remember words.

Most Indonesians I've met like to have a laugh so playing with words is a good way of introducing yourself to people in a way that promotes a friendly conversation from the start.