Travelling is not without its dangers — getting lost or robbed in a foreign country, losing your passport, committing a cultural faux pas, getting involved in an automobile accident when you don’t have any car insurance — just to name a few.
There is also a different kind of danger that few people give a thought about — the language. For instance, there’s the danger of ordering something from the menu which turns out to be very different from what you thought it was. Then there’s the danger of mentioning something in your native language which could mean something offensive in that foreign country’s language. Of course, it can also work the other way around. That is, there could be a word in that particular foreign language for something very ordinary that means something else (funny or offensive) in your native tongue, which would then require a major effort on your part to keep a straight face.
Here’s one example. When in Indonesia, you’re bound to see a lot of shops selling this item at the roadside:
Those are sacks of cement, ‘Padang’ being the brand. Cement, you know, for construction purposes. What were you thinking??
Here’s another example: when you’re in Indonesia and feeling hungry, I strongly recommend sop buntut.
It’s oxtail soup. An absolute must-try in Indonesia. For Filipinos, this would make sense, since ‘buntot‘ is Tagalog for tail. But ask any Malaysian if they’d like sop buntut and you’re bound to get some guffaws. That’s because ‘buntut‘ is Malay slang for…err..one’s posterior. (This dish is called sup ekor in Malaysia, ekor being the Malay word for ‘tail’. It’s quite close to the Cebuano ikug.)
Finally, here’s a very harmless-looking photo of OnlyGirl, RoundBoy and MyEldest posing merrily in front of a firetruck in Brunei (pic taken in November 2004).
If I showed this to my relatives in the Philippines, they’ll find the ‘BOMBA’ thing to be quite confusing because in Tagalog and Cebuano, bomba means bomb… but it is also a colloquial term for ‘nude’ or ‘naked’.
Malaysians who go to the Philippines are better off referring to the nightingale in English because the Malay equivalent, ‘bulbul‘, means pubic hair in Tagalog or Cebuano.
As for Filipinos who go to Malaysia, if you see a catfish, please do NOT use the Cebuano word for catfish. You see, that word (which begins with the letter ‘P’) is a very crude Malay word for the female genitalia! Refer to it using its Malay name instead — ikan keli.
Strangely enough, the Cebuano term for catfish (see crude Malay word above) is the Indonesian term for one’s posterior, which is not the same as the soup that I was talking about at the beginning of this post. If you need a minute or two to straighten that out, I totally understand…
Have you ever gotten into trouble for using the wrong word(s) during one of your travels? Please share with me your funny/scary anecdotes :)
As in? Talaga? Ay, what do i say if I want to eat grilled catfish?
I have mine, when we visited Hongkong. We end up pointing pictures in a restaurant. Not only that, it takes awhile to understand hotel staff even though they are speaking in fluent english.
Hmmm… I like catfish too. May it be Cebuano, Ilonggo or Malay. : )
@Mimi: for the letter, i am giving you the letter M!
@Blogusvox: I had a fit of laughter, weehee…
I forgot all about sop buntut! It’s one of my favourite dishes when I was living in Jakarta ^_^
when i went to Singapore i have a hard time ordering food and other stuff specially if the vendor is old because most of them dont understand english i have to repeat may order thrice or ask someone who knows english to interpret it, but it’s fun because we learn something new. My friend’s mom when to bangkok, while she is shopping clothes she asked the lady if they have a large size and the lady answered ” no, no only EkEkL (she means XXL) lol :)
LOLOLOL. BOMBA!!! Ahaha.
Out of respect for my Malay-speaking readers, who make up more than 50% of my daily visitors, I had no choice but to edit some of the comments. Thank you.
That’s what bomba means pala. i noticed that in the hotels in KL. That refers to fire exits pala.
hahahahaha, malay, indonesia, philipine, so funny! salam dari jakarta, indonesia :)
tulisan yang bagus! :)
When I was in Bosnia my malay host warned me about the meat roll or sausage he was ordering from the waiter.Its called ‘cipapi’ Aha..do you know this colloquial term mimi?