IndonesianPod101 Blog — "Untranslatable Words in Indonesian: Think Like an Indonesian"

Author: unattributed (IndonesianPod101, a language-learning company blog)
Publication: IndonesianPod101.com Blog
Date: 2019-06-28
URL: https://www.indonesianpod101.com/blog/2019/06/28/untranslatable-indonesian-words/
Type: secondary/popular (commercial language-learning company content marketing); credulous stance
Accessed: 2026-09-05

Extract

A second, independently dated instance of the popular "untranslatable Indonesian words" listicle genre, organizing its words into four categories: Religion (najis, salat, ibadah), Respect (si/sang, kak/bro/sis/mas/mbak), Daily Life (gak enak, oh begitu, cuci mata), and Flavor particles (kok, sih, kan).
Framing language: "no matter their reason for pursuing it, many Indonesian learners are delighted to find that quite a few words and expressions translate quite readily into English. That only makes it more confusing when there are new concepts that take more mental gymnastics to understand" — the genre's standard "cultural distinctiveness via lexical gap" framing.
Does not include gemas or geram — checked directly this session. Filed specifically as a negative-control check: confirms gemas's appearance in the LingoCards listicle is a real but not universally repeated instance of the genre, unlike e.g. hygge or saudade, which recur across nearly every listicle checked.