Euphemism in Bahasa Indonesia

Euphemism in Bahasa Indonesia

Bulan Bahasa (Indonesian Language Month) has just ended so I
would like to point out the use of euphemisms in Bahasa Indonesia
which lead to hypocrisy.

I think the degree of euphemism in Bahasa Indonesia is
unhealthy because the meaning of a word or definition is altered
so that its meaning becomes biased. Therefore, many terms are
confused and we are often ensnared in the definition traps.

Although defining words is intangible, this is still an
important issue. The more precise the definition the easier it is
to tackle a problem. Today, many problems are diagnosed wrong
because they are defined wrong.

When I studied taxonomy, my lecturer continually stressed the
importance of definition because they influence the way we manage
problems. Once the definitions are wrong then everything
following can also be wrong.

So, I was surprised when a TVRI announcer called rakyat miskin
(poor people) rakyat pra-sejahtera (pre-well-off people) during
the evening news. As a matter of fact, both terms have
considerably different definitions. Pra-sejahtera is a better
condition than miskin (poor) and it is therefore a biased form of
miskin. A weird sentence was also aired when a minister said that
persediaan beras kita aman (our food stock is safe). Couldn't he
just say cukup (sufficient) instead of aman (safe).

There are some phrases whose definitions are now really
biased. Lapar (hungry) becomes kurang pangan (lack of food) and
pelacur (prostitute) becomes wanita tuna susila (unethical
woman). Men can be prostitutes. It is a relief that we no longer
use disesuaikan (readjusted) when we want to say that the price
has increased.

I remember the phrase Bahasa menunjukkan bangsa which means
you can tell a nation by its language. If we adopt euphemisms for
I am afraid we will teach hypocrisy to our beloved Indonesian
people.

WAHYUNI RIZKIANA KAMAH

Jakarta