Powerful One Words
“The power of words is immense. A well-chosen word has often sufficed to stop a flying army, to change defeat into victory, and to save an empire” — Emile de Girardin (French journalist, publisher and politician)
I once published an article about the usage of tech words in your daily lives:
Continuing in that spirit, in this story, I would like to share with you guys some powerful one-word words that contain so much nuance and meaning and are very practical for our daily lives. Shall we begin?
1. 仕方ない（しかたない — shikatanai）🇯🇵
This Japanese word has the closest meaning to “it can’t be helped”. It is used for acceptance towards a situation that cannot be changed and we can’t do anything about it. You want to jog, but it is suddenly raining? — 仕方ない. Despite putting so much effort into your work, you still don’t get the promotion?— 仕方ない.
It’s not that we “surrender” to the circumstances. It’s just that it is futile to do anything since it’s beyond our control anyway. I think it’s a liberating phrase in which people can be free of the negative thought that despite their efforts, there are still things beyond their control, and we can do nothing about it. 仕方ない.
2. Sekalian 🇮🇩
Now… I will tell you about this strong, powerful word. There’s no direct English translation to it. Imagine a situation where you can kill 2 birds with 1 stone. That’s basically what this word conveys. “Sekalian” has a nuance of “doing something altogether”. It’s like “in one go” kinda feeling. Hell… “sekali” means “one time”, it couldn’t be a coincidence 😂
Indonesians love using this word cause we love doing something just in one go. “Kita rayakan ulang tahun Andy yuk!, sekalian adakan pesta apa?” has meaning of “let’s celebrate Andy’s birthday, and while we’re at it, why don’t we have a party?”. “Mau sekalian bahas topik ini juga ga? Mumpung masih ada waktu?” has a meaning of “Since we have time left, and while we’re all still here, do you want to discuss this topic too?”
3. Haiyaaa 🇨🇳
I have to thank Uncle Roger for this. Haiyaaa is a word that comprises one’s frustration, aggravation, irritation, annoyance, disappointment — all the negative feelings, you named it. Not just the nuance, but it also gives you a sense of venting, and complaining about a certain situation. You can use this word for any situation that makes you mad. “Your cat shat on the floor 💩” — Haiyaaa. “Your child is so stupid, they can't even do simple addition” — Haiyaaa. “An auntie who can’t follow the rules” — Haiyaaa. You can’t believe how stupid people can be. As Uncle Roger said, it’s the MSG of words.
4. Mager 🇮🇩
“Mager” is an abbreviation of “Malas Gerak” which means “I’m too lazy to move”. Indonesians use this word a lot when you’re in a very comfortable situation and you don’t want to “move” from it. For example,
A: “Let’s grab dinner down the street”
B: “Mager (should we (?) I’m too lazy to move from this couch). Can we order something online instead?”
“Mager” is to tell people whom you communicate with that “I’m too comfortable now, let’s not do whatever thing is that you suggest me to do”.
5. Titip / Nitip 🇮🇩
This is my favorite one in this batch. I don’t think there’s a similar word in any other language AFAIK. “Titip” has a meaning of “Can I ask you to bring me something since you’re planning to go somewhere” kinda feeling. It’s not like we asked the person to do something for us, more like since the person gonna do their errand anyway — there’s no harm in asking them a lil’ favor for us. This word is often used when one goes to a convenience store.
A: Aku mau ke warung. (I’m going to the convenience store)
B: Titip snack dong. (Can you also get me a snack, please? *since you’re going the store anyway… I didn’t ask you to.)
Not only this case but other situations like “entrusted” can also use this word. “Titip hadiah ini dong buat ulang tahun Mary” (since you’re going to the Marie’s birthday party, can I entrust you my gift for her?”
1 word, yet so rich.
6. 面倒臭い（めんどうくさいーmendoukusai) 🇯🇵
I learned this word from Shikamaru from Naruto.
Yes! It is “what a drag” in English. The Indonesian word for it is “ribet”. But this word’s meaning not only stops there. It also implies that you lack the motivation and effort to do such a thing. For example:
“A: You can’t reserve by online, you have to come to the restaurant.
B: Eh? mendoukusai”
When you use it, is like this emoji automatically pops out 😩
7. Mejeng / Nongkrong 🇮🇩
It’s a word slash “culture” in Indonesia. “Nongkrong” is a word to describe “sitting around at a certain place for a decent amount of time”. The participant has common knowledge that the time spent when you “nongkrong” at a certain place must be a minimum of an hour. You can use this word to describe that you “nongkrong” collectively (with friends or family), or just you alone. But the place can’t be your own home though, the place should be anywhere besides your home/apartment/room/.etc.
A: Lagi dimana sekarang? (Where are you right now?)
B: Lagi nongkrong di Cafe nih ngerjain tugas, napa? (I’m at the cafe working on my assignments right now, why?)
A: Tar malam nongkrong yuk di bar biasa? (Let’s hang out at our usual bar later tonight?
B: Boleh. (Sure)
When B says he “nongkrong” at the cafe, A understands that B has spent quite an amount of time there before A speaks to them. When B asks A whether they wanna hang out tonight, A understands that it’s not just hang out. The time spent at this place would be long enough, not just a simple meet, doing the deed, and that’s it — no no no. There could be countless hours of chatting involved, B knows that.
It’s a convenient word to use to convey that you “exist in a certain place for quite some time”.
