Podcast #31 - 4 Daily Indonesian Idioms [English Audio]

 

                Hello and welcome to Bet.ID Podcast. The podcast where I talk about Indonesian language and things related to it so that you can improve your listening comprehension and get to know more about Indonesia and culture. I’m Jeff

                It’s the episode number 31 of this podcast. I’m gonna be telling about 4 daily Indonesian idioms. But before we jump into it, you can always read the transcript of this podcast by clicking the link down below. Ok, let’s start

1.       Kambing hitam

Kambing hitam literally means black goat. You can use this idiom for someone who is not guilty but is accused of being guilty. So, what do I mean? Let’s say that I had broken down one of my mother’s favourite plates. It’s really serious, you see. So, because I didn’t want my mother to become mad at me, I told my mother that my brother who had broken down her plate. So, I made my brother a kambing hitam or a black goat here.

 

2.       Hidung belang

Hidung belang literally means striped nose. Like the colour of a Zebra. Can you guess what’s the meaning of this idiom? I bet you can’t since the meaning doesn’t have any link with striped colour or a Zebra. So, you can use this idiom normally for a man. For example if a married man are seducing or flirting with girls with some seductive lines then this man is a hidung belang or a striped nose man.

 

3.       Besar mulut

Besar mulut literally means big mouth. So can you guess what does this idiom means. Do you think of a haughty man? Yes. So this idiom is to be used for someone who is really arrogant and pride. So because they are arrogant and pride, they always boast about themselves. So, they always open their mouth. So that’s why they are besar mulut or big mouth.

 

4.       Gulung tikar

Gulung tikar literally means to roll up the mat. The mat which you use to sit on the ground. So back then in Indonesia, for selling things we used a mat and we put it on the ground, rolled it out and put some things to sold on it. Once we had done, we simpy rolled it up. But the meaning of this idiom now is if someone’s business goes bankrupt.

Now, I’m gonna make a paragraph using these 4 idioms.  

                I’m Sarah. I worked in a big office but I had enough with my boss. He was a hidung belang man. I also didn’t get along well with my workmates since they always made me a kambing hitam. So I stopped working in that office. My workmates were confused of my decision to stop working there but I was a bit besar mulut to them and saying that I had another better job which in fact I didn’t. But some months later, I could get another job and the office which I worked earlier had gulung tikar.

                That’s a very weird paragraph still I hope you understood how you can use these 4 idioms. What do you think? Let me know. Leave your comment down below wherever you’re listening to this podcast. If you’d like to book an online one on one Indonesian lesson with me, you can do that now just click the link below. Sampai jumpa!