Kelayapan In Indonesian
An Informal Indonesian Word
Halo semuanya, ketemu lagi dengan saya, Iman Prabawa. This time, I will talk to you about the meaning of the word [kelayapan], and as usual, we will watch examples from movie scenes where the word [kelayapan] is spoken.
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Meaning of Kelayapan
[Kelayapan] is when you are going out with no specific purpose or specific direction to go. You’re kind of like just wasting time and letting the hours roll by.
How to Pronounce Kelayapan
Here is how you pronounce [kelayapan] in bahasa Indonesia.
But sometimes, you will hear Indonesians pronounce it with the letter [b] or [kelayaban].
Examples of Kelayapan In Use
In this section, you will see examples from movie scenes, YouTube videos, and whatnot where the word [kelayapan] is spoken.
The first example is from a TV Series called Suami-Suami Masa Kini, Episode 1 (2022). Let’s watch the clip below.
Conversation from the clip with English translations.
Police Officer: Atasan di sini itu saya. Dan tugas kami itu bukan mencari suami yang kelayapan. Tugas kami itu menangkap maling, rampok dan bandar narkoba. Mendingan sekarang ibu-ibu pulang. Nanti juga suaminya pada pulang kok kalau duitnya udah habis. (I’m the superior in here. And our job is not to find husbands who are going everywhere with no direction. Our jobs are to catch thieves, robbers, and drug dealers. You’d better go home now. If your husband’s money has run out, they will go home.)
In this scene, Tania and her friends come to a precinct nearby to ask for help finding their husbands. Their husbands suddenly can not be reached by phone, which makes Tania and her friends worried.
Then the police officer in that precinct replied to her by saying that their duties as police officers are not to find someone going everywhere with no specific direction and not knowing what he is going to do, or what is called the term [kelayapan].
Vocabulary From the Clip
[Atasan] = superior, boss.
[Di sini] = over here.
[Saya] = I.
[Tugas] = duty.
[Mencari] = to look for something.
[Menangkap] = to catch.
[Maling] = thieves.
[Rampok] = [perampok] = robbers.
[Bandar narkoba] = drug dealers.
[Pulang] = go home.
[Duit] = [uang] = money.
[Udah] is short for [sudah] = already.
[Habis] = run out of something.
The second example is still from the same movie, Suami-suami Masa Kini, Episode 2 (2022). Let's watch the clip below.
Conversation from the clip with English translations.
Rumi: Mba Tan, mba. Aku pulang sama kamu aja, ya? (Tan, can I go home with you?)
Tania: Lah? Itu kan ada Yuda. Ya elah, Yud. Lo masih mo ke mana lagi, lo? Masih mo kelayapan? (What? Yuda is here. Hey, come on, Yud. Are you still gonna wander about?)
Yuda: Engga. Pulang. Cape, mba. Tania. (No. Go home. I’m tired, Tania.)
In this scene, Rumi and Yuda are husband and wife. And they are at the moment in each other’s throats. That’s why Rumi asks Tania to go home with her. Tania doesn’t know they are fighting, so she assumes that Yuda will still wander about.
That’s why Tania says this to Yuda:
Lo masih mau ke mana lagi, lo? Masih mo kelayapan? (Where else do you still want to go? Are you still want to wander about?)
Let’s learn the vocabulary used in this clip.
Vocabulary From the Clip
[Mba] is an honorific title used to address a female who is older than you. In this case, Tania is older than Rumi, and that’s why Rumi addresses Tania with the word [mba]. For more about this, you can read my article: Mba Meaning In Bahasa.
[Aku] is informal for [saya] = I.
[Aja] is a common reduction for [saja] = just.
[Mo] is informal for [mau] = want.
[Ya elah] is usually used when you belittle other people’s actions or words. In this scene, Yuda goes to do karaoke with his friends, but suddenly, the elevator in his office stops. And when Tania gets them out of the stuck elevator, Tania still thinks that Yuda still wants to go somewhere. Rumi is Yuda’s wife, and Rumi asks Tania to go home with her. In fact, there is Yuda over there, as Rumi’s husband. Isn’t it weird that Rumi asks Tania to go home with her when her husband is standing over there? That’s why Tania assumes badly of Yuda that he still wants to wander about by saying [ya elah] and then asking Yuda such a question.
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That wraps up this article. If you have any questions, feel free to leave them in the comments below. Thank you for reading my article, and I’ll see you soon.