Don't Say "Butuh" in Malaysia

Kuala Lumpur - For many people, Malaysian language seems to have many similarities with Indonesian. But you should not get wrong. We have many differences also and can bring misunderstanding or even worse.
Beside the dialect, intonation and vocabulary, which are not the same, many words have different meaning. For example, the word “berbual” in Malay means speaking or talking. But in Indonesian language, the same word will understand as ‘lying’ or speaking something bullshit. I learned that one of Malaysian telecommunication provider has the jargon “berbual tanpa batas” or talking without limit. One Malaysian television has program “Berbuallah Selalu” or Let’s Talk. One of my Malaysian friends shocked when I told her that “berbual” in Indonesian means “berbohong” or “lying”.
Other funny word in my interpretation is pejabat, which in Malaysian means office. In Indonesia, it means government high-ranking officer. When it comes “ibu pejabat” which is means headquarters, Indonesian will think that is the wife of its government officer. They have an organization for the wives of government official called Dharmawanita. So, I believe if some Indonesian read the sign of “Ibu Pejabat….” They will think that the building is the office for Malaysian “Dharmawanita”.
The other word, is “bisa”. In Malaysian, it is “poison”. But in Indonesia, that word mostly use for “able”. Sometimes when the context related to a snake, it could be “poison” too.
The most horrible things I learnt are the two words, “butuh” and “pantat”. In Indonesia, “butuh” means “need” and “pantat” is butt. I will not say it anymore in Malaysia because here, those words meaning, surprisingly far from those in Bahasa Indonesia.

Daily ConversationAfter weeks joined “International Journalism Fellowship” I get used with daily conversation with my Malaysian friends. For example, “jom”, “iye ke”, “beb” etc. One phrase I love to say is “o em ji”, short from “Oh My God”. Other word can bring misunderstanding is “gile”. Which is means “too much” here. If my Malaysian friends said “aku suke gile” or “I love it so much”, I should not think that person is sometimes crazy. That is the meaning in Indonesian language. (natalia santi)