‘I think I have enter wind’: Indonesian literally translated into English can be… odd, as Sacha Stevenson demonstrates

While people often say that Indonesian is one of the easiest languages to learn, it can sometimes be hard for foreign learners to wrap their heads around Bahasa Indonesia’s many colorful colloquialisms and idioms (just as it might be difficult for an Indonesian learning English to wrap their heads around the English meaning of membungkus kepalamu sekitar itu). 

Indonesian Youtube star Sacha Stevenson (who first found fame with her “How to Act Indonesian” series), is well-versed in the intricacies of both Bahasa Inggris and Bahasa Indonesia and uses her language skills to demonstrate just how odd Indonesian idioms can sound when literally translated into English in her latest video:

You’ll need to know a fair bit of Indonesian to get how amusing some of these are, but here are a few of her examples:

Indonesian: Selamatkan orangutan!
Literal English translation: Save the jungle people (orang hutan = jungle people)
What it actually means in English: Save the orangutans!

Indonesian: Hati-hati!
Literal English translation: Hati means liver (which is considered to be symbolically similar to the way English speakers refer to the heart) so literally “Liver-liver!”
What it actually means in English: Be careful!

Indonesian: Aku kasih tahu dia cowoknya mata keranjang tapi katanya dia sudah tahu dia hidung belang dan dia masa bodoh karena dia sendiri juga mata duitan
Literal English translation: I give knowledge her man is basket eyes but she said said she already knows he is a stripe nose and she is really stupid because she herself is money eyes.
What it actually means in English: I told her her man has wandering eyes, but she said she already knows he is a playboy and she doesn’t care because she herself is a gold digger.

Indonesian: Saya dengar dia punya kemaluan besar sekali
Literal English translation: I heard he has a really big “shyness”
What it actually means in English: I heard he is “well-endowed”.

Of course there are all sorts of Indonesian terms that simply have no proper English translations, such as the notorious medical condition known as “masuk angin”, so “enter wind” will simply have to suffice.

Among the many videos on Sacha’s Youtube Channel, she also has plenty other valuable language lessons such as this useful introduction to Englonesian.