The `game of twisting words' is Yogyakarta's local sport

The `game of twisting words' is Yogyakarta's local sport

By Mochtar Buchori

JAKARTA (JP): I visited Yogyakarta recently and, being on
vacation, I had ample time for myself. I visited old friends and
two of my cousins who have never lived outside the city. They are
still true Yogyanese in every respect.

One attribute I admire and enjoy about true Yogyanese is their
wit and humor. They are very resourceful in playing with words.
Through imaginative manipulations they twist words, phrases,
sentences or sometimes even an entire verse, to give an existing
expression a totally different meaning or connotation.

The beauty of these twists is that each time they lead us to
an encounter with a cognitive surprise. This is a mental game
called plesedan, meaning literally "(the game of) sliding". In
daily life it means "the game of making others skid mentally."

One simple example is the following. When you approach the
city of Yogyakarta from the local airport, at one stoplight on
your right side, you will see a billboard with the following
message: "The Best Karaoke in Town, Karo Aku" .

Here the Japanese word karaoke is twisted in pronunciation,
and becomes karo aku, a Javanese expression meaning "being with
me". It is thus possible to infer that this advertisement
suggests the following message, "The best entertainment (karaoke)
in town is to be with me." This technique is called pronunciation
twist.

Another technique of this game is extending an existing
expression with new phrases which contain quite different
meanings. One such twist I have learned from a friend is:

Nglurug tanpa bala (Going to war without an army).

Menang tanpa ngasorake (Achieving victory without defeating
anyone).

Sugih tanpa banda (Feeling rich without material possession).

If I am not mistaken, this classic teaching advises us to
fight against the ill wills within ourselves to become a better
person. If we engage ourselves in this kind of struggle, then we
are fighting a war against ourselves where we need no army. If we
succeed, then we achieve victory without defeating anyone. What
we defeat is the negative aspects within ourselves. As a result
we will feel rich spiritually, without having to accumulate
material possessions.

My friend told me that some cynics have added to this
expression new lines, purporting to express the new realities
within our society, but containing meanings which are quite
contradictory to the message contained in the original
expression. This new addition is as follows:

Sarjana tanpa wiyata ([Claiming to be] A scholar without ever
going to college).

Kuwasa tanpa prabawa (Acquiring power without ability to
inspire respect).

Ngendika tanpa panggrahita (Talking without thinking).

Meres tanpa deduga (Exploiting others without consideration).

The latest creation I have learned about this game is rather
political. Again, it is based on one classic expression,
advocating a wisdom. The original expression advises us to be
firm in our moral commitments, always mindful and vigilant in
facing temptations that can lead us to vicious behavior. The
cynics have added to it a new line through which they mean to
express their cynicism in a humorous way.

Amenangi jaman edan (Living in a crazy age).

Ewuh aya ing pambudi (Facing a very difficult choice).

Melu edan ora tahan (Want to act crazy like the others, but
conscience forbids).

Ora edan ora keduman (But if you do not act crazy, you will
never get your share).

Sabegja-begjane sing edan (No matter how fortunate a crazy
person may be).

Isih begja sing eling lan waspada (More fortunate are those
who are always mindful and vigilant).

The original expression ends here. To this expression a new
line has been added, one version of which reads:

Luwih begja maneh sing ... edan ning waspada (But most
fortunate are those who are ... crazy but vigilant).

Another version of this new line reads as follows,

Mulakna kuwi edana disik, terus eling lan waspada (Hence be
crazy first, and become mindful and vigilant later on).

I felt very refreshed mentally the moment I heard this
narration.

The writer is rector of Muhammadiyah University, Jakarta.