+ Can you speak english?
- Well If only little-little sih, I can !”
This is where I took the title of this blog from. I first heard about it during my Primary School days. The line was actually repeated over and over by various Indonesian comedian from time to time but it never failed to make me laugh.
Picture this. A goofy looking guy talking to another guy playing the role of bule or a white/western guy. The bule said, “Err excuse me, can you speak English?“. And the other guy answered “Well If only little-little sih I can lah!“. Ha ha ha ha .. Um.. you don’t get it eh?
This is what I would call a pure example of Indoglish or Indonesian English where the words are written in English, but the structure are Indonesian language. It came from the sentence:”Kalau cuma sedikit-sedikit sih saya bisa!” or loosely translated as
I only know a little. However the sentence are then translated word to word by keeping it’s original Indonesian language structure.
Kalau = if, cuma = only, sedikit-sedikit = little-little, saya = I, bisa = can. (while sih is a particle)
Here is a couple of my favourite Indoglish:
- My body is not delicious today.
Indonesian: Hari ini saya tidak enak badan, or I’m not feeling well today. “Tidak enak badan” actually is an expression to say that you are not feeling well. “Tidak enak” is loosely translated as “not delicious” as in this food is not delicious. Now combine the two meaning and you get a loose translation as my body is not delicious- Do you want mie? It still hot loh!
Indonesian: Kamu mau mie? Masih panas lho, or loosely translated as Do you want this noodle? It’s still hot. You see, it is impolite according to Indonesian culture not to offer your food to those around you. So imagine you approach one of your Indonesian female friend while she is eating a hot noodle (noodle is mie in Indonesian) . She then says “Hey, wanna have some noodle? Lets enjoy it together while its still hot!“. But instead imagine her saying “Do you want mie? It’s still hot loh!“. You could actually mistaken her for saying “Do you want me? It’s still hot.” Oucch!!
- Little-little me, little-little me. Salary not up-up!
Indonesian: Sedikit-sedikit saya, sedikit-sedikit saya. Gaji nggak naik-naik or loosely translated as You turn to me to do every work, but you never give me a raise.
So, there you go! Remember this. Next time you are approached by an Indonesian and he speaks a strange english, he could probably be goofing around with you. Most Indonesians are educated in English since junior high school. Some of them only lack practice. But nowadays? Don’t be surprised if you find an Indonesian kid with American accent. Thanks (or no thanks?) to American popular culture.
Hey, do you know any funny Indoglish? Care to share it with me here, while it’s still hot loh!
Cheers
hoho, lucu!