O'on in the Indonesian Language

Halo semuanya, ketemu lagi dengan saya, Iman Prabawa. In this article, I want to talk to you about the meaning of the word [o'on] in the Indonesian language, and as always, we will watch scenes from movies where this word [o'on] 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, without further ado, let's talk about it.

O'on in the Indonesian Language

[O'on] is short for [blo'on], which means stupid. [O'on] is informal and usually is used to make the word [blo'on] sound cuter. You can also write this word without the apostrophe,  or like this, [oon]. I'm putting an apostrophe there just to make it easier to read and not to be confused with two O that you pronounce long.

Synonyms for [o'on] are [bodoh], [tolol], and [goblok]. If you want to use the formal, you can use [bodoh].

How to Pronounce O'on

Here is how you pronounce the word [o'on] in Bahasa Indonesia.

Next, let's watch scenes from movies where the word [o'on] is spoken.

Examples of O'on in Use

The first scene that we are about to watch is taken from a movie called Bajaj Bajuri The Movie (2014). Let's watch the scene down below.

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

Oneng: Eh, bunyi apaan tuh? Mepet bener! Pak! Pak, kalo parkir jangan mepet-mepet. Ntar kalo bapak buka pintu nih. Bajaj laki aye bisa lecet. Pak, jangan lupa ye. Digeser mobilnye. (What’s that sound? This is too close! Sir! Sir, do not park too close like this because when you open your car’s door, my husband’s Bajaj can get scratch. Sir, please don’t forget to move aside your car.)

Man: O'on kali kau! (You stupid bitch!)

In this scene, Oneng has just arrived at the court to see her husband, and suddenly, she hears a sound. She saw that a man was parking the car too close to her husband's vehicle, where actually that was not the man's fault, but it was her husband's fault because her husband was the one who parked too close to that man's car.

That's why the man said, "O'on sekali kau. [You are so stupid]" because without trying to know what the real problem was, she asked him not to park too close to her husband's vehicle.

Vocabulary From the Scene

[Bunyi] = sound.

[Apaan] is the colloquial form of [apa] = what.

[Tuh] = [itu] = that. For more about this, you can read my article here, Tuh In Indonesian.

[Mepet] is a state where two things are so close to each other.

[Bener] is the colloquial form of [benar], which in this case means [very].

[Kalo] is the colloquial form of [kalau] = if.

[Pak] is an honorific title to address older men. For more about this, you can read this article, Pak in the Indonesian Language.

[Ntar] is the colloquial form of [nanti] = later.

[Bajaj] is the type of vehicle that her husband drove.

[Aye] is derived from the Betawi language and not a word from the Indonesian language. [Aye] means [I]. The Betawi language is one of the many regional languages in Indonesia. For more about this, you can read my article here, Aye In Indonesian.

[Laki aye] = my husband.

[Lecet] = scratch.

[Jangan lupa ye] = [jangan lupa ya] = please do not forget. Betawi people usually change the letter [a] into [e] like in this example, and the pronunciation changes slightly.

[Digeser] = move aside.

[Digeser mobilnya] = [digeser mobilnya] <--- in this phrase, Oneng also change [a] into [e]. It's common in the Betawi language like this, so when they speak Bahasa Indonesia, they will also change the letter [a] into [e], and the pronunciation also changes slightly.

[Kau] = you.

[O'on kali] <--- [kali] in this phrase is short for [sekali], which means very. For more about the meaning of [kali], you can read my article here, Kali in the Indonesian Language.

     Read also: Banget In Indonesian

So, this is all for now. If you have any questions regarding this topic, you can just leave the questions in the comment section below, and I'll be happy to answer your questions. If I find another scene where the word [o'on] is spoken, Insha Allah, I will update this article again.

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