Bawel Meaning In Bahasa Indonesia

Halo semuanya, apa kabar kalian? This time, I will talk to you about the meaning of [bawel] in Bahasa Indonesia. We're also going to watch scenes that I took from Indonesian movies where this word [bawel] is spoken.

If you have any questions regarding the Indonesian language, you can ask me directly, or you can join my group. You can see it on my About Me page.

So, let's talk about this.

Bawel In Bahasa Indonesia

Let's see the meaning of [bawel], according to Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia. I've made a screenshot below, and then I will translate it into English.

According to Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia, the meaning of bawel is [suka mencela; cerewet]. In English, it means chatty, or talkative. A person who is called [bawel] annoys other people with their words.

How to Pronounce Bawel

Here's how you pronounce [bawel].

There are 2 syllables there, [ba] and [wel]. You can try pronouncing syllable by syllable first at a slow tempo, and once you get comfortable with it, you can speed it up.

Example Sentences Using Bawel

Here are three example sentences using the word [bawel].

Example Sentences	English Translation
1.       Loe jadi orang bawel banget sih?	1.       You're so noisy, don't you know that?
2.       Biasanya sih yang bawel cewe, nah ini cowo bawel!	2.       Usually, girls who talk a lot, not boys like you!
3.       Atasan kamu bawel? Sabar aja!	3.       Your boss talks too much? Just be patient!

Next, let's watch scenes from movies where this word [bawel] is spoken.

Bawel In Movie Scenes

The first clip that we're going to watch is from an Indonesian movie, Cek Toko Sebelah. Let's watch it.

The conversation in that scene with English translation is as follows.

Son: Lho? Papa mo ke mana? (Hey, where are you going, dad?) 

Father: Mancing. (Fishing.) 

Son: Lama ngga? (Is it gonna take a while?) 

Father: Ngga. (Nope.) 

Son: Eh, pah. Pelan-pelan. (Dad, would you please ride it slowly?) 

Father: Bawel! Loe belum lahir, gue udah balap liar. (You're so annoying! I had already done illegal street racing before you were born.)

Here, the father is annoyed with what his son just talked to him. His son asked him to ride slowly on his motorbike because he cared about him. But he felt that his son talked was so annoying, so he said the word [bawel].

Vocabulary From the Scene

[Mo] is informal for [mau]. It means [want].

[Papa] also [pah] means [daddy].

[Papa mo ke mana?] comes from a full sentence [Papa mau pergi ke mana?]. He drops the word [pergi]. [Pergi] means [to go]. Papa mau ke mana? <--- if translated literally into English, it will be, "Where do you want to go, daddy?"

[Mancing] is informal for [memancing] = going fishing.

[Pelan-pelan] = slowly.

[Udah] is short for [sudah] = already.

[Balap liar] = street racing.

The second clip is from a famous TV serial in Indonesia, Si Doel Anak Sekolahan. Let's watch this.

The conversation in that scene with English translation is as follows.

Woman: Bang, kopinya taro di mana, nih? (Where should I put your coffee?) 

Man: Bawa ke sini! (Bring it here!) 

Woman: Emangnya belon kelar juga ini oplet? (Haven't you finished fixing the car yet?) 

Man: Haduh, dikit lagi! (In just a minute!) 

Woman: Yah, ntar si Doel ketelatan lagi, bang. Kemarin dia ngedumel tuh. (Doel will be late again then! Yesterday, he complained about it.) 

Man: Bawel amat sih jadi orang! (You talked a lot!) 

Woman: Doel! Cepet, Doel! (Doel! Hurry up, Doel!)

As you can see, the woman in that scene complains a lot to the man. That's why he said to her, "bawel," and I think this is all for the update. Bubye.

Vocabulary From the Scene

[Taro] is informal for [taruh]. It means [to put].

[Emang] is short for [memang]. You will hear [emang] a lot in daily conversation.

[Belon] is informal for [belum]. This [belon] is usually spoken by indigenous people of Jakarta, or we call it Betawi people.

[Dikit] is short for [sedikit] = a little.

[Ntar] is informal for [nanti] = later, then.

[Telat] = late.

[Cepet] is the same as [cepat]. In this context, it means [hurry up].

The third clip is from a movie called Perahu Kertas 1 (2012). Let's watch the scene below.

The conversation in that scene with English translation is as follows.

Noni: Kamu tuh ngga ada inisiatif banget sih? Buat nelpon dia, nanya sekarang pake baju apa, nomor telponnya berapa. (Why don't you have an initiative? Called him for example, or to ask him what shirt he wears, what's his phone number.) 

Eko: Pake apaan? Pake apaan bawel? (Using what? What should I use, chatterbox?) 

Noni: Ih! Bener-bener ya! Ngga ada inisiatif! Terus sekarang kamu terakhir ketemu ama dia kapan? (Oh my! You really have no initiative! When did the last time you meet him?) 

Eko: SD. (Since elementary school.) 

Noni: SD? (Since elementary school?) 

Eko: Iya. (Yes.) 

Noni: Sekarang udah lupa mukanya kaya gimana? (And now you have forgotten his face?) 

Eko: Lupa. (Yes, I have forgotten his face already.)

Eko's girlfriend, in this scene, as you can see, talked too much. That's why he called her [bawel]. 

Vocabulary From the Scene

[Nanya] is informal for [bertanya] = to ask.

[Nelpon] is short for [menelpon] = to make a phone call.

Bener-bener ya! <--- This expression is usually used when someone gets upset with someone. It's hard to translate this into English. Maybe it's kind of like [you're being such an asshole]

[Ama] is short for [sama] = with.

The fourth clip is from a movie called Radio Galau (2012). Let's watch the scene below.

The conversation in the scene with English translation is as follows.

Rio Bramantyo: Woi! Ada apaan mas bro? Pacar lau ngambek lagi? Ha? (Hey, what happened? You fought with your girlfriend again? Hey?) 

Bara Mahesa: Udah deh, loe jangan bawel deh. Gue lagi pusing nih. (Come on! Don't keep on blabbing. I have a lot of things on my mind right now.) 

Rio Bramantyo: Heh. Punya pacar ribet ya? Ngerepotin ya? Kan gue udah bilang dari kemarin. Gue udah bilang! Loe itu emang udah nasibnya kaya gue. Jadi jomblo. (Having a girlfriend makes you trouble, ha? Bothersome, isn’t it? I’ve told you, right? I’ve told you, bro! Your fate is to be just like me. Being alone.)

Here, Mahesa had a fight with his girlfriend, and then his friend Rio Bramantyo came along. Then, Rio talked too much, and Bara felt annoyed with all the words that Rio was talking to him. That's why he said, 

Jangan bawel.

[Jangan bawel], in this context, means that he asks his friend to stop talking.

Vocabulary From the Scene

[Ada apaan?] <--- This phrase is usually used when you want to know what just happened.

[Pusing] in literal meaning means dizzy, headache. [Pusing], in this context, is used figuratively, which means being confused and don't know what to do.

[Ribet] means complicated.

[Ngerepotin] is informal for [merepotkan] = troublesome.

[Gue udah bilang!] = I've told you! "Gue udah bilang" is used in an informal situation, and if you want to use it in a formal situation, you need to change it into "Saya sudah katakan." 

[Jomblo] means that someone doesn't have any girlfriends or boyfriends.

The fifth clip is from a movie called Office Watch (2020). Let's watch the clip down below.

The conversation in the scene with English translations is as follows.

Tiffany: Ini beli di mana, kak? (Where did you buy this, sis?)

Sarah: Ih! Ini gue yang masak! (OMG! I'm the one who cooked this! Don't you believe me?)

Tiffany: Oke, chill. (Okay, relax.)

Sarah: Tadi kakak beli bahan-bahannya di  supermarket, terus.. Iiih! Loe dengerin gue ngga sih? Tadi loe tanya soal masakan ke gue sekarang gue jelasin elo ngga denger. (I bought the ingredients at the supermarket, and then-- Hey! Are you listening to me? You just asked about the dishes, and now I'm explaining to you, and you don't listen to me.)

Tiffany: Ih! Bawel banget sih loe! Udah ah! Cepetan cari cowo. Biar gantian gue yang masakkin buat elo. (You're so annoying! Go get a boyfriend! So that I can cook for you instead of you cooking for me.)

Sarah has just made spaghetti in this scene, and then her sister came in and asked where she bought the spaghetti, and then Sarah answered that she made it herself.

Her sister seems to not believe in her, so Sarah explains it to her sister, and while she was explaining it to her sister, her sister didn't listen to her but was just busy doing the selfie. And then Sarah got angry with her sister because she wasn't listening when she spoke.

And then her sister said this,

Bawel banget sih loe!

She was kind of annoyed by her sister trying to explain too much information that she doesn't need. That's why she said the word [bawel]. 

Vocabulary From the Scene

[Loe], [elo], [lu], [elu] and [lo] is the same word, and also has the same meaning. You will see Indonesian people write it down in many variations, but it is the same word, so don't confuse that.

[Udah ah!] here is used to end the conversation. Usually, people who say [udah ah] want to end the conversation. [Udah] is short for [sudah], and [ah] is just an exclamation word.

[Cepet] is also the same as [cepat], which means [hurry up, quick]. So, [cepetan] is the same as [cepatan], but you will hear [cepetan] more in daily conversation in Indonesia. The literal translation of [cepetan] or [cepatan] is [be quick]. This is usually used when you want someone to in a hurry.

The sixth clip is taken from Wedding Proposal (2021). Let's watch the clip below.

Conversation from the scene with English translations is as follows.

Bisma: Nih, pak. (Here you go, dad.)

Father: Oke. (Okay.)

Ito: Ngga pake gula, kan? (You didn’t put sugar in it, right?)

Bisma: Bawel! (I know. Just zip it!)

Ito: Bohong nih, nih punya gue nih. Kebiasaan. (Hey, that one is mine. You’re always like that!)

Bisma made coffee for the three of them, and then Ito usually drinks coffee without adding sugar in it, and he wanted to make sure that Bisma didn't put sugar into his coffee. When Ito asked Bisma about it, Bisma replied with [bawel], which in this context, he knows it, and Ito doesn't have to ask him to make sure.

Vocabulary From the Scene

[Nih] has the same meaning as [ini] = this. [Nih] is usually said when you are giving something to someone, like in this example, Bisma gives her father coffee.

[Bohong] = lie.

[Kebiasaan] is something that you usually do. In this case, Ito said [kebiasaan] to Bisma because it's Bisma's habit to exchange his coffee with Ito's coffee.

I think that's all for now. If you have any questions regarding this topic, just write in the comment section down below. I'd be happy to answer it. If I find another clip where this word [bawel] is spoken, Insya Allah, I will update this article again. 

Thank you for reading this article, and I'll talk to you soon. Bye-bye now.