HOW TO SPEAK LIKE NATIVE INDONESIAN | “IH & KAMBING HITAM”

If you haven’t caught up with our previous episodes of “How to Speak Like Native Indonesian” series, we have discussed several particles and idioms such as nah, wah, tangan kanan, banting tulang and others.

In this episode, we still have other idioms and particles to help you speak like native Indonesian. The particle and idiom in this episode are “ih” and “kambing hitam” Let’s see how they are used in sentences:

Ih… ada kecoa!!!

There's a cockroach!!!

Kecoa itu menjijikkan sekali... ih!!!

The cockroach is very disgusting!!!

Jangan begitu, kasihan dia selalu dijadikan kambing hitam setiap kali ada masalah.

Come on, it’s sad how he has always become the scapegoat of every problem.

From these examples, you can see that “ih” is used to express something that is disgusting and fearful. While “kambing hitam” has the same meaning in the English idiom that is scapegoat.

Make sure you watch this video to further understand these particles and idioms.

Selamat belajar!