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Di Bawoh Rang Ikang Kering
Random Ramblings of A Retired Retainer

TERENGGANU PHRASES

Thursday, November 25, 2004

Terengganu things, especially Terengganu words seem to be very interesting to readers of this blog. I am delighted, to say the least.

One reader, A.Zulkifli, emailed me a list of 46 Terengganu words and phrases. Thank you Zul. I will use some of the words by and by. Kohor kohor. Another esteemed reader, d'arkampo, commented and suggested a few phrases that are unique to Terengganu. That is what this blog is trying to do- showcasing Terengganu words and phrases that are native to Terengganu as opposed to standard words merely pronounced in the Terengganu tongue.

We will deal with phrases first (as submitted by d'arkampo and A.Zulkifli):

  1. mana mari doh
  2. kecik pale-pale
  3. bekok cobbong
  4. nok kabo bui
  5. pitih haluh
  6. dok rok cettong
  7. dok juruh aroh
  8. ikut panda

1. Mana mari doh is the Terengganu equivalent of berbaloi (worth it). If you are not a joli person (spendthrift) you would rationalize your spending with mana mari doh.
"Kalu gi panggong kena bayo lima belah riya sorang. Dua orang jadi tiga puloh riya. Beli DVD se duabelah riya. Buleh tengok pat orang. Mana mari doh. Jimat berapa riya tu."
(If you go to the cinema hall, you have to pay RM15 per person. That would be RM30 for two persons. You buy one DVD for RM12 and 4 people can watch it. It's worth it. Think of how many ringgit you save) Message not endorsed by Kementerian Perdagangan Dalam Negeri & Hal Ehwal Pengguna.
2. Kecik pale-pale is usually used with lari kecik pale-pale:
"Bila laki Mah Babu jerkoh, budok budok tu lari kecik pale-pale"
(When shouted at by Mah Babu's husband, the boys fled so fast that their head looks very small)
3. Bekok cobbong is swollen red and throbbing. If you have been watching old cartoons like Popeye, Tom & Jerry or the Merry Melodies series and you see somebody gets bopped in the head (by a sledgehammer or a falling piano) the head will have a swelling and lit up like lamp. That's bekok cobbong.
4. Nok kabo bui (Kelantenese version: nok ghoyat bui) The closest English equivalent is "Let me tell you this" spoken in less than a friendly tone. Do not try this on aggressive people who are stronger than you. He might punch you in the nose and your nose will be bekok cobbong.
5.Pitih haluh is literally "small money". It means small change or small notes. Useful when accosted by ladies soliciting derma. "Mitok maah lah, ambe tadok pitih haluh ari ning".
6.Dok rok cettong escaped me at the moment. I need help. I know rok is either belukar or semak (bush). Rok also mean "able, strong enough or healthy enough". "I can't play tennis today. My body not bush" (Tokleh maing tennis ari ning weh. Tubuh dok rok). Cetong means the tin can. Cettong, I don't know. Enlighten me.
7. Dok juruh aroh means aimless or without direction. Just dok juruh means worse. It means not straight or bad. "Mari sining Ngiyang. Aku nok kabo bui. Mu jangang saing dengang Semek Jik tu. Orang tu dok juruh. Aku dengo dia tu orang wat jambang"
8. Ikut panda/ikut suka is "according to your discretion" or "up to you".
Mok Long: Ubi kayu ni nok wat guane Pok dia weh? Nok rebuh ke nok bako?
(How do you want this tapioca done? Boiled or cooked in hot coal?)
Pok Long: Ikut panda mung lah. Puteh aku bahang, itang pong aku bahang jugok.
(It's up to you. White or black, I will wallop it)

| 12:11 AM :: ::
16 CommentsOldStyle:

  • dear pak ku,

    i'm totally fascinated with dialects and your blog is a virtual aladdin's cave. exotic pronunciation aside, dialects not only provide region-exclusive turn of phrases, they also keep alive words and connotations that would otherwise disappear from our lexicon due to lack of usage.

    for instance take your lovely 'jjuruh' (jurus). kamus dewan gives three main senses: 1) a moment [as in sejurus]; 2) direct and continuous [as in berjurus-jurus]; and 3) of good behaviour / polite [as in berjurus/jjuruh].

    standard malay, correct me if i'm wrong, uses mainly the first two senses. oh in case anyone is wondering, 'jurusan' as in 'stream' is a connotation of the second sense. that the third sense is alive and obviously well-maintained in the rich vocab of terengganu and kelantan both awed and tickled me.

    btw there is another connotation of this third sense, used to mean solemnly/seriously or in ernest [bersungguh]. growing up i've heard this kind of 'berjurus' used in johorspeak to describe someone who follows instructions to the latter [ikut buk sebab lurus bendul, kata orang], often ending disastrously. has anyone else?

    [pokku, beloh alik ni hari jo'ong sungguh, pasa tu gamoknya mek yam pung tulih jjuruh. :D]

    mek yam

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 2:52 AM  

  • Pok Ku...!!!! You remind me of my father, the only one who fondly calls me 'Ngiang'! My husband always find it funny. Anyway, 'dok rok ccetong' is not from our era, tu bahasa budok-budok muda llening. If I'm not mistaken, it means 'tak larat sangat, (walau seringan) cetong. May be 'budok-budok muda' among your readers could enlighten us.
    -PasirPanjang-

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 6:52 AM  

  • Assalammualaikum Pokku, not having much exposure to the east coast culture, I didn't know that your dialect is so rich. I'm totally hooked now! Ilmu pengetahuan can come in so many fun ways :-)

    By Blogger JIE, at 9:50 AM  

  • Pok Ku, dok rok cettong is not the terms used by the youngsters today as commented by one of your reader.It is an old term used by the Pokciks.

    Phrase like " Mung gi tengok bola mallang? mane menang?"
    "huh..dok rok cettong Teganung..kaloh".

    Dok Rok Cettong is like a term used for describing a person or something that is so not worth a single cent..cettong is a tin can used for measuring beras or to hold water from a payyang.

    May be the elders could give more details..Wallahhualam.

    By Blogger Anonymous, at 9:55 AM  

  • Dear Pokku,

    Because of your entries, I am now thinking hard if we have a specific Johor-speak. I know we do, but it's not spoken so wildly now. Perhaps I should blog some of it tehehe. Thank you.

    Leen@xanga.com/ashburn

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 10:01 AM  

  • TQ Pok Ku! Now I know what "mana mari doh" means.

    By Blogger Honeytar, at 10:16 AM  

  • Pok Ku,

    Hamba cakap bahasa Ganu lame gok...dok tahu gok mende dok rok cettong weh. Dok saboh gok nok kate cetong tu same dengan cettong. Kalau cetong sebut dok bunyi sabdu cet-tong.

    By Blogger ビビ, at 11:10 AM  

  • Dear Pok Ku,

    Mah Babu must be quite a legend in the old days ;-). Another thing that I observe is people always say samas (se-emas) for 50sen and RM1.50 (tiga amas) but not dua amas or empat amas untuk seriyal dan dua riyal.
    When I went home for Raya recently this shopkeeper proudly said tiga amas to me while smiling. He must have been reading your blog and knew how to "welcome home" transplanted "orang teganung". UZ

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 11:51 AM  

  • A'kum Pokku.... got to know ur blog when a friend mentioned about u being d writer of the 'Mujo'. Have been peeping on ur blog whenever i have the time since then. One great thing about reading ur blog is that it reminded me of some 'perkataan berganda' used by frenz of mine during my short stay in Ganu many2 years ago... some of 'em if i can recall correctly are tawar hebeh, masam leting, hitam something(hhhmmm..i cant remember..).... Mind helping me refresh those vocabs..?

    Love ur blog! keep on writing!
    huntress_c@yahoo.com

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 12:04 PM  

  • Ingatkan "Ikut panda" tu ikut beruang panda..hehe
    Best best kena carik menantu org ganu la camnie..baru leh practise..Mujo ada Pok ku tolong ajar :D

    By Blogger shay, at 12:07 PM  

  • I have heard both meanings of dok rok cettong. Usually implies to the meaning given by d'arkampo. In other words, lebih kurang macam dok pakka lasung lah. And I personally think that's what it is.

    Others use dok rok cettong literally..meaning tak larat. Why the tin can comes into the picture excapes me.

    Cettong and cetong is one of the same.

    But there are also people using dok rok cettong for th

    By Blogger lion3ss, at 3:05 PM  

  • Yam: Thanks for the insightful comment. Enjoy!
    Pasir Panjang: Apparently, this phrase is more common in Dungun & Kemaman side.
    Jie: We learn every day don't we?
    d'arkampo: Thanks for the comment and the pharses.
    Leen: Good idea! The more, the merrier.
    Honeytar: You are most welcome.
    Bibi: Bibi's mom is from the north. Phrase from south.
    UZ: Hope you enjoyed the trip home.
    huntress: InsyaAllah. Keep reading.
    Shay: LOL.
    lioness: Your aboh from Kemaman. He can confirm.
    Zaireen: Thank you very much.

    By Blogger Bustaman, at 8:06 PM  

  • in front fire place in marshta, sweden,
    pak tg,
    how i long for my tanah air when i read your phrases.
    how i miss the food on which i grew up on,
    how i dream of being back by teluk ketapang watching the sunrise
    how i enjoyed rauk buluh berah to make wa bulang even till my finger bled
    how i remember gi baroh nok cari ikang skilla afterwhich i put in a botol kicap
    and then tanam dlm tanah to ensure gagoh ikang tu
    how i ran happily atah batah looking for my tauk,hoping for ikang ruang
    how i spent my time before buka learning nganyam tuppat,which i can till
    today,unfortunately,no daung nyor here
    how i miss the morning yell "kuih kuih, tepung plita,roti khamat,nasi
    dagang,nasi lemak,tepung kapor wehhhh" and my grandmother (al
    Fatihah) giving me 5 sen to buy whatever i need for breakfast
    how i laugh after hitting the wooden bar of the tin can pyramid while playing
    bola tin
    how i miss all that, missing the sun shiny day,,,,,
    i wish
    i am still wishing.
    thanks pak tengku
    thank you very much...
    another one : tengkiu bery mah, jual kayu dapat samah.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 7:40 PM  

  • Dok jurruh aroh sungguh blog ni. Bekok cobbong ppale nok mmikir. Aku petong ke mung , mung petong ke aku, kohor-kohor lah belajo. Hehehe so fascinating , it was so long never heard such words. Make me homesick. Teruskanlah pok ku weh biar ppale bekok dok ape asal bahasa sediri dok lupe. Di bawoh rang ikang kering... tapi pok ku can eloborate kot on Hitam Legam, Hitam beletung, Hitam Legit and gelap gelemak, gelap gugup, gelap katup. Hija naung, kuning siyo, biru ketu/herang,putih seleput. Where all this came from?

    Striker
    Scotleng.

    By Blogger STRIKER, at 4:56 PM  

  • Dear Pok Ku.. I have a boyfriend who's an orang Terengganu. I find understanding cakap Ganu a real challenege for me.

    Wooh.. Feel so out of place sometimes *chuckles*, but at least boleh tangkap sikit-sikit, because orang Temerloh used a few similar words macam orang Terengganu. Hehe.. anyway, thanks. I wish to find more blogs or sites that would explain the lingo.

    By Blogger m, at 12:05 PM  

  • Amiable post and this fill someone in on helped me alot in my college assignement. Gratefulness you for your information.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 1:46 AM  
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