Neko-Neko Meaning In Indonesian

Halo semuanya, ketemu lagi ama ane, Iman Prabawa. In this article, I'm going to be talking about the meaning of the phrase [neko-neko] in Indonesian. As always, we are also going to be watching examples taken from YouTube videos, movies, comics, and others where Indonesians use the phrase.

If you have any questions regarding the Indonesian language, you can ask me directly. You can see how to do that on my About Me page. 

If you are a beginner in the Indonesian language, you can learn step by step with My Lesson Here.

So, without further ado, let's get into the discussion.

Neko-Neko In Indonesian

[Neko-neko] in Indonesian comes from the Javanese language, but if you look at Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia, this phrase is listed there.

[Neko-neko] means act strangely, weird, complicated, or when you add so many things to something that makes it too much or too glamorous. [Neko-neko] is often collocated with the word [ngga]. 

[Ngga neko-neko] means something that is normal, not weird, not complicated, not too much, not too glamorous, simple, or just plain.

Example sentence:

1. Masakan ini ngga pake bumbu yang neko-neko. (This dish doesn't use any fancy seasoning.)

2. 6 bukti kamu tipe orang yang gak neko-neko. Apa saja ya? (6 proofs that you are not a complicated person. What are those?)

How to Pronounce Neko-Neko

Here is how you pronounce [neko-neko] in Bahasa Indonesia.

Moving on, we will look at examples where Indonesians use the phrase [neko-neko].

Examples of Neko-Neko In Use

The first example we are about to watch is taken from a YouTube video from Bang Mpin's Channel. Let's look at the clip below.

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Below is what Bang Mpin says in the clip above with English translations.

Bang Mpin: Ini yang gue cari, nih! Mie-mie kaya begini nih. Gurih. Wangi. Dia punya rasanya tuh gak neko-neko tapi enak gitu! Nyaman banget pas dimakan. Asli! Enak. Beneran enak. Ngga bo'ong! (This! This is what I've been looking for! Noodles just like this one. Tasty. Smells nice. Its taste is not overly tasty, but it is delicious! This is so comforting to eat. For real! Delicious. Really delicious. No caps!)

Here in the clip, Bang Mpin says [neko-neko] collocated with [gak], and it has the same meaning as [gak aneh-aneh], or it means that the noodles are not added with a lot of stuff on them to make it overly look good.

Vocabulary From the Scene

[Ini] = this.

[Nih] is informal for [ini] = this. For more about this, you can read my article here, Nih In Indonesian.

[Mie] = noodles.

[Mie-mie] is a plural form for [mie] = noodles.

[Kaya begini] = like this.

[Nyaman banget] <--- In this context, it is very smooth and very comforting to eat.

[Asli] in literal meaning means [genuine], but in this context, [asli] is used to emphasize that the person speaking is not lying or made something up.

[Bo'ong] is informal for [bohong] = lie.

[Ngga] = [gak] = [enggak] = no.

[Ngga bo'ong] = no lie. In this case, the meaning of [ngga bo'ong] and [asli] is the same. That is to emphasize that the taste of the noodles is delicious.

     Read also: Takis In Indonesian

That wraps up today's article. If I find another example, Insha Allah, I will update this article again. Thank you for reading my article, and I'll see you soon. Buh-bye.