One of my favorite parts of Indonesian is literally translating words and phrases back into English. Some of them, I find quite humorous. Here are a few of my favorites.
English - Indonesian - literal translation
parent - orang tua - old person
be careful - hati hati - liver liver
I don't feel good - badanku ga enak - my body is not delicious
thank you - terima kasih - receive love
you're welcome - sama sama - same same
hospital - rumah sakit - sick house
restaurant - rumah makan - eating house
durian - durian - thorn
(Let me interject here that I staunchly believe that if a fruit is named "thorn", it shouldn't be eaten.)
bathroom - kamar kecil - little room
bed - tempat tidur - sleep place
sock - kaos kaki - foot shirt
toe - jari kaki - foot finger
eyelash - bulu mata - eye hair
how are you? - gimana kabarmu? - how is your news?
i'm well - baik baik saja - just fine fine
biological child - anak kandung - womb child
millipede - seribu kaki - one thousand feet
train - kereta api - fire wagon
no problem - tidak apa apa - no what what
to pee - buang air kecil - dump small water
to poop - buang air besar - dump big water
drinking water - air putih - white water
One of the most amusing things to do with friends who know both English and Indonesian is to have conversations using literal translations. Maybe this makes us nerds, but it is always funny.
2 comments:
I am dumping small water in my pants reading some of these!!
Ah, the beauty of different languages is always interesting eh?
By the way, I'm having difficulties teaching Indonesian to my husband. Have you ever experienced it too?
As my mother tongue, i consider Indonesian is quite complex to learn, although i could use proper Bahasa in a formal term (dissertation, speech, presentation, etc) but to explain it to people is another story..
For example, how would you explain the word "yang" or maybe some affixed words such as pe-an from word "tam bah" that would be "penambahan"?
Hahahah..
Post a Comment