First, thanks for all the Birthday cards and emails. I am hopeless at remembering birthdays myself so feel extra pleased, impressed and a little guilty that I never get my birthday list properly sorted out. Why aren't you all on Facebook? Birthday reminders are what it's best at.
The Quiz.
The winner is the redoubtable Hildebrand Staggers, a natural linguist and well ahead of the pack, though at one point Xanthe was snapping at his heels.
During my time in Indonesia found that much of language learning seems to me instinctive and about using the first words that come into your head even if they turn out to be wildly wrong. Often, no one seems to notice even if they are.
If you start to think you are lost. So this quiz was just about saying the word aloud and making a wild guess, and often those wild guesses would be somewhere near the mark. Points were awarded for near misses, amusing answers and stupefyingly wrong answers as well as the correct, much as I would judge a good conversation, and that's how i think much of spoken language works, but there is not time to go into that now.
I used the word correct, but in language there are usually no 'correct' answers but only a multiplicity of meanings and nuances.
A magnificent prize will soon be sent off to Mr. Staggers. A 'Well done!' to him and shame on some of the others who did not even manage to get points for wrong answers.
The answers.
1. Easy one to start.
What is an ambulant? ambulance
2. Can you guess what an amplop might be? an envelope If you have had enough to drink it sounds right.
3. Who or what is an aparat? An apparatus or a government agent/organisation. An easy one.
4. What would you do with an apel? You would eat it, of course!
5. What would you make out of wol? Wear it or knit socks and so on.
6. Where would you find a bemper? On the back and from of a car. Something like that.
7. The verb Bercas-cis-cus means: The noise Europeans make, obviously.
a) To lure an orangutan into a trap.
b) To talk in a European language.
c) To fool tourists into buying cheap imitation batik made in China.
8) You probably have a weker. What does it do? It weks you up! An alarm clock.
9) Would you like your computer to be bergaransi? Guaranteed, so yes.
10) What noise does an Indonesian rooster make?
a) Merokok
b) Kokok
c) Bermaaf-maafan
11) What is a sepatu? A shoe, from the Portuguese
12) What distinguishes a woman who is berponi? Her ponytail naturally.
13) What would you do with a sepeda? It means bike, another word of European origin.
14) Or a blus? A blouse, wear it.
15) Where would you go to get a bistic? A beefsteak. Biscuit would have been a good guess and got you points too.
16) What would you do with a mobil boks? A mobile box, or van
17) Who might you give a bros to this Christmas? Any female relative might like a brooch.
18) What would expect to find a wese? Think initials. W.C.
19) What is a carter? Charter. Indonesian C. Easy!
20) What goes dag dig dug? Your heart, but I have given points to good guesses too.
21) Where would you find a dasbor? Dashboard. Another car word.
22) Where are you likely to be diklakson? You would be hooted at of course.
23) Another object focus verb. What would be happening if you were dipingpong?
Sent back and forth. Another blindingly obvious answer.
24) One for the scientists. What would be going on if you were dironsen? You would be X Rayed.
25) Dor! is the sound of:
a) a gunshot. A tough one for a change, I still think snore.
b) a barking dog.
c) a loud snoring.
26) Where would you put elpiji? LPG. Liquid Propane Gas. Heating, in engines etc.
27) What would you do with es krim? Ice cream. Questions don't get easier than that.
28) in Indonesia a mobile phone is called a hape (the final e is one of those ays as in hay) Can you work out why? H.P. Hand phone.
29) Where would you put hotmiks? Hot Mix. On the road is the correct answer but there were points for creative suggestions.
30) What does an insinyur do? An engineer so plenty of answers to that.
31) What would you put in a jerigen? A jerrycan. Put in petrol or any other liquid.
32) Another ber... verb. What would you be doing if you were berjoget? It's not the obvious answer. Dancing. Points were given for anything that was close.
33) can you guess what jus alpukat is ? Avocado juice. This is tough but somehow I managed to guess it and I wondered if you could.
34) Kaca means glass. So what happens to you if you berkaca-kaca? Crying, but again points were given for good guesses.
35) Where might you find a kano? A canoe. On a lake or river perhaps.
36) Where would you go to get a kari? A curry. So, the usual places.
37) Kecup is a sound. Is it:
a) the sound of sauce coming out of a bottle.
b) a hiccup
c) a kiss Kechupp! What else could it be? The other Indonesian kiss word is chum, to sniff. More of a peck, I think.
38) Where in the world are you likely to meet a koboi? The Wild West.
39) Lego is not a little plastic brick (it says in the dictionary) it means.... what?
Leggo! A useful word but a bit Billy Bunterish, don't you think?
40) Mata means eye. But who is a mata-mata? A private eye. Well done those who got this right.
41) Matahari was a famous spy but do you know what matahari means in indonesian? The sun. Several of you knew this.
42) What is the English word for oii? Oil. A simple anagram. In fact anagrams don't get simpler.
43)What would you use a pulpen for? For writing, a fountain pen.
44) What is pup? The Indonesian O. Too obvious to answer,
45) What would you use sabun and sampo for? Soap and shampoo.
46) Westeners are often surprised to see shops with a sign saying 'Semen'. What are these shops selling? Cement.
47) When might you come across Sinterklas? Santa Claus. The seasonal question.
48) What would you do with a switer and a seal? A sweater and a shawl. Wear them.
49) Where is the best place for talk in Jogjakarta? You could get talc ( a swapping of c sounds here!) in the chemists.
50) Finally if an Indonesian told you you were telat. What would it mean?
Telat! Telat! A bit like lego! It's telat for you to enter this quiz now I've given you the answers. It was so easy wasn't i?
The Quiz.
The winner is the redoubtable Hildebrand Staggers, a natural linguist and well ahead of the pack, though at one point Xanthe was snapping at his heels.
During my time in Indonesia found that much of language learning seems to me instinctive and about using the first words that come into your head even if they turn out to be wildly wrong. Often, no one seems to notice even if they are.
If you start to think you are lost. So this quiz was just about saying the word aloud and making a wild guess, and often those wild guesses would be somewhere near the mark. Points were awarded for near misses, amusing answers and stupefyingly wrong answers as well as the correct, much as I would judge a good conversation, and that's how i think much of spoken language works, but there is not time to go into that now.
I used the word correct, but in language there are usually no 'correct' answers but only a multiplicity of meanings and nuances.
A magnificent prize will soon be sent off to Mr. Staggers. A 'Well done!' to him and shame on some of the others who did not even manage to get points for wrong answers.
The answers.
1. Easy one to start.
What is an ambulant? ambulance
2. Can you guess what an amplop might be? an envelope If you have had enough to drink it sounds right.
3. Who or what is an aparat? An apparatus or a government agent/organisation. An easy one.
4. What would you do with an apel? You would eat it, of course!
5. What would you make out of wol? Wear it or knit socks and so on.
6. Where would you find a bemper? On the back and from of a car. Something like that.
7. The verb Bercas-cis-cus means: The noise Europeans make, obviously.
a) To lure an orangutan into a trap.
b) To talk in a European language.
c) To fool tourists into buying cheap imitation batik made in China.
8) You probably have a weker. What does it do? It weks you up! An alarm clock.
9) Would you like your computer to be bergaransi? Guaranteed, so yes.
10) What noise does an Indonesian rooster make?
a) Merokok
b) Kokok
c) Bermaaf-maafan
11) What is a sepatu? A shoe, from the Portuguese
12) What distinguishes a woman who is berponi? Her ponytail naturally.
13) What would you do with a sepeda? It means bike, another word of European origin.
14) Or a blus? A blouse, wear it.
15) Where would you go to get a bistic? A beefsteak. Biscuit would have been a good guess and got you points too.
16) What would you do with a mobil boks? A mobile box, or van
17) Who might you give a bros to this Christmas? Any female relative might like a brooch.
18) What would expect to find a wese? Think initials. W.C.
19) What is a carter? Charter. Indonesian C. Easy!
20) What goes dag dig dug? Your heart, but I have given points to good guesses too.
21) Where would you find a dasbor? Dashboard. Another car word.
22) Where are you likely to be diklakson? You would be hooted at of course.
23) Another object focus verb. What would be happening if you were dipingpong?
Sent back and forth. Another blindingly obvious answer.
24) One for the scientists. What would be going on if you were dironsen? You would be X Rayed.
25) Dor! is the sound of:
a) a gunshot. A tough one for a change, I still think snore.
b) a barking dog.
c) a loud snoring.
26) Where would you put elpiji? LPG. Liquid Propane Gas. Heating, in engines etc.
27) What would you do with es krim? Ice cream. Questions don't get easier than that.
28) in Indonesia a mobile phone is called a hape (the final e is one of those ays as in hay) Can you work out why? H.P. Hand phone.
29) Where would you put hotmiks? Hot Mix. On the road is the correct answer but there were points for creative suggestions.
30) What does an insinyur do? An engineer so plenty of answers to that.
31) What would you put in a jerigen? A jerrycan. Put in petrol or any other liquid.
32) Another ber... verb. What would you be doing if you were berjoget? It's not the obvious answer. Dancing. Points were given for anything that was close.
33) can you guess what jus alpukat is ? Avocado juice. This is tough but somehow I managed to guess it and I wondered if you could.
34) Kaca means glass. So what happens to you if you berkaca-kaca? Crying, but again points were given for good guesses.
35) Where might you find a kano? A canoe. On a lake or river perhaps.
36) Where would you go to get a kari? A curry. So, the usual places.
37) Kecup is a sound. Is it:
a) the sound of sauce coming out of a bottle.
b) a hiccup
c) a kiss Kechupp! What else could it be? The other Indonesian kiss word is chum, to sniff. More of a peck, I think.
38) Where in the world are you likely to meet a koboi? The Wild West.
39) Lego is not a little plastic brick (it says in the dictionary) it means.... what?
Leggo! A useful word but a bit Billy Bunterish, don't you think?
40) Mata means eye. But who is a mata-mata? A private eye. Well done those who got this right.
41) Matahari was a famous spy but do you know what matahari means in indonesian? The sun. Several of you knew this.
42) What is the English word for oii? Oil. A simple anagram. In fact anagrams don't get simpler.
43)What would you use a pulpen for? For writing, a fountain pen.
44) What is pup? The Indonesian O. Too obvious to answer,
45) What would you use sabun and sampo for? Soap and shampoo.
46) Westeners are often surprised to see shops with a sign saying 'Semen'. What are these shops selling? Cement.
47) When might you come across Sinterklas? Santa Claus. The seasonal question.
48) What would you do with a switer and a seal? A sweater and a shawl. Wear them.
49) Where is the best place for talk in Jogjakarta? You could get talc ( a swapping of c sounds here!) in the chemists.
50) Finally if an Indonesian told you you were telat. What would it mean?
Telat! Telat! A bit like lego! It's telat for you to enter this quiz now I've given you the answers. It was so easy wasn't i?