Halo!
This time, I want to give some idioms or sayings that are common in Indonesia. Admittedly, some newer generation of Indonesians, especially those who studied in international schools, might not be familiar with them. My friend also said that they sound quite dramatic (and I agree).
Anyway, I’ll write them down alphabetically with its direct translation to English followed by their meaning or, if any, similar idioms in English. Some of these sayings can also be used as/made into verbs.
Bahasa Indonesia | Direct translation | Actual Meaning |
Anak bawang | Onion child | Someone’s who’s there only as decoration with no contribution |
Anak buah | Fruit’s child | Subordinate |
Adu domba | Sheep fighting | Pitching others to fight |
Anak emas | Golden child | Most loved kid |
Angkat kaki | Raising feet | Leave |
Angkat tangan | Raising hands | Giving up |
Banting harga | Throw prices | Sale |
Banting tulang | Throw bones | Working extremely hard |
Berdarah dingin | Cold-blooded | Ruthless, cold-blooded |
Besar kepala | Big-headed | Arrogant, haughty |
Besar mulut | Big-mouthed | Loudmouth, braggart, blabbermouth |
Bermuka dua | Two-faced | Two-faced, wishy-washy |
Bintang lapangan | Field star | Best player on the field (usually sport-related) |
Buah bibir | Fruit of the mouth | Becoming the talk of the town |
Buah hati | Fruit of the heart | One’s beloved child(ren) |
Buah tangan | Fruit of the hand | Souvenir |
Buang muka | Throwing away face | To ignore someone on purpose |
Buaya darat | Land crocodile | Playboy |
Bunga desa | Village flower | The most beautiful girl |
Cari muka | Searching face | Seeking attention |
Cuci mata | Washing eyes | Looking at something fun to refresh one’s eyes |
Darah biru | Blue blood | Of noble descent, aristocrat |
Darah daging | Blood and flesh | Biological child OR something ingrained within a society |
Darah mendidih | Boiled blood | Furious |
Darah terakhir | Last blood | The last living descendant |
Debat kusir | Coachman debate | A useless and aimless debate |
Demam panggung | Stage fever | Stage fright, getting cold feet |
Empat mata | Four eyes | A meeting or conversation between two people |
Gelap mata | Dark eyes | Loosing rationality to the point of being crazy |
Gudang ilmu | Knowledge warehouse | A source of knowledge, be it a person or object or place |
Gulung tikar | Rolling rug | Bankrupt |
Harga mati | Dead price | The terms cannot be negotiated further |
Hidung belang | Striped nose | Playboy, womanizer |
Jalan tikus | Rat’s road | Small side roads usually only known by locals |
Jam karet | Rubber clock | Unpunctual |
Kabar angin | Wind news | Gossip |
Kaki tangan | Feet and hands | Lackey |
Kambing hitam | Black goat | The one that is always being blamed, scapegoat |
Kebakaran jenggot | Beard on fire | Being angry |
Kecil hati | Small-hearted | Discouraged, coward |
Kelinci percobaan | Testing rabbit | Guinea pig (as in being used in experiments) |
Kepala [number] | Head [number] | Age group, for example saying ‘kepala dua’ means in their twenties (‘dua’ means two) |
Kepala batu = Keras kepala | Stone-headed = hard-headed | Headstrong |
Kepala dingin | Cold-headed | Calm, patient, cool-headed |
Kutu buku | Book flea | Bookworm |
Kutu loncat | Jumping flea | A fickle person, someone who likes to change job/side |
Kupu-kupu malam | Night butterfly | Prostitutes |
Lintah darat | Land leech | Loan shark |
Lurus hati | Straight-hearted | Honest |
Main mata | Eye play | Flirting (as in sending eye signals) |
Masuk angin | Entered by wind | Catching a cold (in Japanese they have a similar saying, where having a cold is ‘kaze wo hiita’ which means ‘caught wind’) |
Mata angin | Wind eye | Wind direction, like north or southeast |
Mata duitan | Money-eyed | Materialistic |
Mata keranjang | Basket eye | Womanizer |
Makan (asam) garam | Eating (acid) salt | Having a lot of experience, having gone through the ups and downs of life |
Makan gaji buta | Eating blind wage | Receiving pay without doing anything |
Makan hati | Eat liver | Disappointed |
Malu-malu kucing | Shy as a cat | Pretending to be shy, like a tsundere |
Meja hijau | Green table | Court (as in judicial/law context) |
Memikat hati | Captivating heart | Captivating, seducing (noun) |
Menjilat ludah sendiri | Licking one’s own spit | Doing or saying something that is opposite of one’s own words |
Menusuk hati | Piercing heart | Offend, heart-piercing |
Muka masam | Sour face | Pouting |
Naik daun | Upping leaf | Becoming famous/popular |
Naik pitam | Upping fit | Being angry |
Otak udang | Shrimp brained | Dumb |
Pandang bulu | Looking at fur | Differentiate, discriminate due to different background |
Panjang akal | Long-minded | Clever |
Pencuci mulut | Mouth washer | Dessert |
Ringan tangan | Light-handed | Helpful OR likes to hit other |
Sebatang kara | A stick | Living alone, have no relatives |
(Si) jago merah | (The) red rooster | Flame/fire |
Tangan besi | Steel hand | Heavy-handed, with iron-fist |
Tangan kanan | Right hand | Right-hand man |
Tanggal tua | Old date | The end of the month, usually used to imply financial difficulty because payday has long pass |
Tebal muka | Thick-faced | Shameless |
Titik darah penghabisan | Last drop of blood | Dying/passing away (usually used in war or fight context) |
Tulang punggung keluarga | Family’s backbone | Family’s breadwinner |
Tutup usia | Closing age | Passing away |
Unjuk gigi | Showing teeth | Showing off, demonstrating one’s skill |
Unjuk rasa | Showing feelings | Demonstration |
Special feature on ‘jam karet’! I recently saw a foreigner on Instagram being amazed by ‘jam karet’, which literally means ‘rubber clock’. This saying contains a hidden (sarcastic) meaning, referring to how Indonesians are almost always late and whose sense of punctuality can be stretched like rubber. Even a tour guide I met in China said that whenever she brought along a group of Indonesians, she will always tell them an earlier time than the supposed one. So, for example, if we have to get on the bus by 10 AM, she won’t tell the group to gather at 10 AM. Instead she will say 9.30 AM or even 9 AM, to ensure that by 10 AM everyone is ready (and sometimes a few people might not even be ready yet). Of course, not every Indonesian is like that, but I admit we are quite lenient with time.
That’s all for today’s post. Let me know if I missed anything.
See you~
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