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Proverbs and Idioms
Common Indonesian proverbs and their meanings.
Bersatu kita teguh, bercerai kita runtuh
United we stand, divided we fall
ber-sa-tu ki-ta te-guh
Di mana ada kemauan, di sana ada jalan
Where there's a will, there's a way
di ma-na a-da ke-ma-u-an
Seperti padi, semakin berisi semakin merunduk
The wiser the person, the humbler they are
se-pe-rti pa-di se-ma-kin be-ri-si
Tak ada rotan akar pun jadi
In the absence of better options, any will do
tak a-da ro-tan a-kar pun ja-di
Air beriak tanda tak dalam
Still waters run deep
a-ir be-ri-ak tan-da tak da-lam
Bagai air di daun talas
Like water off a lotus leaf (nothing sticks)
ba-gai a-ir di da-un ta-las
Sambil menyelam minum air
Kill two birds with one stone
sam-bil me-nye-lam mi-num a-ir
Nasi sudah menjadi bubur
What's done is done
na-si su-dah men-ja-di bu-bur
Ada udang di balik batu
There's an ulterior motive
a-da u-dang di ba-lik ba-tu
Seperti katak di bawah tempurung
Like a frog under a coconut shell (narrow-minded)
se-pe-rti ka-tak di ba-wah tem-pu-rung
Habis manis sepah dibuang
Discarded once no longer useful
ha-bis ma-nis se-pah di-bu-ang
Tong kosong nyaring bunyinya
Empty vessels make the most noise
tong ko-song nya-ring bu-nyi-nya
