Bang In Indonesian
An Indonesian Word
Halo semuanya. Apa kabar? Ketemu lagi sama saya, Iman Prabawa. This time, I want to talk to you about the meaning of [bang] in the Indonesian language, and as always, we will watch scenes from movies where the word [bang] is spoken by Indonesian people.
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Meaning of Bang
[Bang] is short for [abang], and it is an honorific title to address:
An older brother.
A person who is older than you.
Your husband.
Your son, usually your oldest son.
Unknown guys that you meet on the street.
Usually, [bang] is used in Jakarta and some parts of Sumatra island, but it’s okay if you use [bang] to call someone other than in those places.
For example, if you are in Central Java and you address older people than you by saying [abang], they will be okay, and if they are not okay with that honorific title that you just called them with, they will just tell you.
How to Pronounce Bang
This is how you pronounce the word [bang] in bahasa Indonesia.
Next, let’s watch example scenes that I took from movies where the word [bang] is spoken.
Examples of Bang In Use
In this section, you will see many examples from movies where the word [bang] is spoken. I will try to gather as many examples as I can along the way.
The first clip we are about to watch is taken from a TV series, Suami-suami Masa Kini, Episode 1 (2022). Let’s watch the clip below.
Here’s what she says in the clip above with English translations.
Tania: Halo? Iya. Iya, bang. Saya udah di sini. Bang, tolong kasih tahulah ini anak buahnya. Ya bang, ya? Oke. Makasih, bang. Iya. (Hello? Yes. Yes, sir. I’m already here. Would you please tell your man to behave? Okay, sir? Okay. Thank you very much, sir. Yes.)
In this scene, she is talking to someone, and by seeing how she uses the word in this scene, you can see that she is talking to someone older than her or someone she respects. She uses [saya] instead of [aku] or [gue] in her sentences.
This scene took place in Jakarta, so as you can see, people in Jakarta usually use an honorific title [bang] to address men older than they are.
Vocabulary From the Clip
[Iya] = yes.
[Udah] is a common reduction for [sudah] = already.
[Di sini] is a place physically close to the speaker.
[Anak buah] = subordinate.
[Makasih] is a common reduction for [terima kasih] = thank you. For more about this, you can read my article here:
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Thank you for reading my article. If you have any questions, feel free to leave them in the comments below. I’ll see you soon, and bye now.