Jakartan Slang

Are you a learner of Bahasa Indonesia? Have you ever had troubles listening to native Jakartan people speaking the language? It sounds like they’re speaking another language and using weird words that are not even listed in your dictionary. Yeah! In daily conversation, Jakartan people love using Jakartan slangs. There are a lot of Jakartan slangs, but  here in this article I’m trying to cover some basic slangs mostly used by the people of Jakarta! 

Actually I made this for a friend in Shanghai who is currently learning the language, hi 雪儿！Hopefully it’ll be useful too for whoever reading it! Happy learning the Jakartan slang words! :)

Pronoun

Jakarta is a melting pot for dozen of cultures, that’s why Jakartan people had a lot of ways to say I, Me, and  You! These ‘Jakartan people’ pronouns can be classified into some groups based on it’s origin and level of formality. So, here is the list of Jakartan people’s pronouns you may encounter in daily conversations!

Saya(I) and Anda(You)

This is the most formal and proper way in Bahasa Indonesia to address someone.  saya and Anda are actually the standard Malay words for saying I and You. Jakartan people rarely used these words in informal context. These words are used mostly in formal conversation, or when you’re speaking to your boss, teacher, client, or someone older than you. It’s also the safest word to use when you’re speaking to someone you just know. But, if you keep using this word when you’re speaking to your friend you‘ll sound way too formal and it sounds like you’re trying to keep distance with your friend. These words are really formal, that’s why it’s not used when you’re speaking to your beloved one or your family. Indonesian people don’t say things like  I love you using these words. “Saya cinta Anda”, which literally means I Love you completely makes sense and grammatically correct, but using this sentence you just said it in a super formal way. You’re not going to confess to your crush using this senetence!

Aku(I) and Kamu(You)

The word aku is derived from the Javanese, while I don’t know where the word kamu came from. These two words are not as formal as saya and Anda. These words are used in more informal conversation. However, I had a bad experience using these words in Jakarta. So, I wasn't originally a Jakarta resident, I moved to Jakarta from another city in East Java when I was 13. Back in my hometown we used the word aku all the time with my friends, but for Jakartan young people when you’re using this word in daily conversation it sounds way too romantic. So, if you are speaking to a friend in Jakarta avoid using this word, it’ll sound like you’re having a special romantic relationship, or you’re trying to flirt with your conversation partner. So, if this word is used between two young people (mostly opposite sex) in Jakarta you can presume that they are couple. If they are just ordinary friend, they’ll use the word Gue and Lu. 

Gue(I), Lu(You), Gua Orang(We), Lu Orang(You Guys), dan Dia Orang(They)

This is the most popular and casual “I and You” words to use in Jakarta. These words were derived from the Hokkienese ‘Gua/阮’ and ‘Lu or Li/恁’ a long long time ago. Prior to the colonization of Dutch, there are a lot of Chinese in Batavia(old name for Jakarta). Most of these Chinese speak the Hokkien dialect and that’s where this word was derived. Nowadays, this word is not only used by the Chinese-Indonesian, but most of the Jakartan young people. You may find these words used a lot in Indonesian movie and pop culture.

Besides gue and lu, some Chinese-Indonesian love saying gua orang, lu orang or dia orang instead of kami(we), kalian(you guys) and mereka(they). These words are interesting. It seems like the Chinese-Indonesian people are trying to roughly translate the word gun lang/阮人(we), lu lang/恁人(you guys), and i lang/伊人(they) in Hokkienese to Indonesian. Lang in Hokkinese mean person or orang in Indonesia. So, they directly used the Hokkienese grammar and translate these words, word by word, forming the word gua orang, lu orang, and dia orang. But, I guess only Chinese-Indonesian understand the meaning of these words not all Jakartan people. 

Ane and Ente

Jakartan people are also influenced with the Arabic culture. That’s why sometimes the word ana(e)/ أنا  and anta/ انتَ (in Jakartan slang pronounced as ente) which means I and you in Arabic can be found in Jakartan people’s conversation. Not all of Jakartan know the meaning of these words. Originally, these words were mostly used by Jakartan people with heavy Islamic-Arabic culture background, but lately along with the growing use of Kaskus(Indonesian forum website), Indonesian netizens that used kaskus are familiar with these words and use these words in daily conversation.

Eke(I)

This word is used specifically by bencong(transgender). In most of Indonesian comedy, when a man is trying to imitate a transgender they’ll use this word. 

Counting Money

The Hokkien dialect of Chinese has pretty big influence in Jakartan people’s slang, especially for terms related with bussiness and money. So, if you’re shopping in Mangga Dua or Tanah Abang, instead of the standard sepuluh ribu or lima puluh ribu rupiah, you’ll hear ceban or noban. What does it mean? 

Ceceng一千 means 1.000

Goceng五千 means 5.000

Ceban 一万 means 10.000 

Noban 两万means 20.000

The proper Hokkienese used in Taiwan will say it as nengban, but in Medan Hokkienese it’s pronounced as noban. 

Goban 五万means 50.000

Cepekceng 一百千means 100.000

Actually this word is grammatically incorrect in proper Hokkienese cause Chinese people count money based on ten thousand(ten thousand is 一万 or ceban in Hokkienese). So if you want to say 100.000 it should be capban 十万or ten 10.000. But, Indonesian people like the Westerner count money based on thousand. That’s why instead of capban they coined a new word cepekceng 一百千which literally means a hundred thousands. Ceng means thousand in Hokkienese.

If you have any questions regarding the Jakartan slang, please feel free to leave any comment in the comment box below! :)