Malay Idioms Meaning

Simpulan Bahasa An - Ay

汉语

Anak yatim 1. Fatherless child, be careful with idioms meaning pertaining to orphans, compare with anak piatu.

Hubungan anak yatim itu dengan ibunya akrab.
The fatherless child is close to his mother.

Anak yatim 2.Fatherless OR, motherless child

Hubungan anak yatim itu dengan ayahnya akrab.
The motherless child is close to his father.

Anak yatim piatu Same as anak piatu.

Andam karam Mengandam is to confine something ...hopefully not someone in a chest and sink it into the sea so. Of all the Malay idioms meaning, this is the most sinister to denote vanish, all gone.

Angin ahmar Stroke

Bahagian kanan badan nenek menjadi lumpuh setelah diserang angin ahmar.
The right side of grandma's body is paralysed since she has a stroke.

Angin badai Hurricane.

Angin badai Katrina memusnahkan New Orleans pada 2005.
Hurricane Katrina destroyed New Orleans in 2005.

Angkat alis Alis is eyebrow. To raise one's eyebrows in surprise.

Nenek yang kolot angkat alis terlihat seluar jeans baru cucunya berlubang-lubang di bahagian lutut.
Old fashioned grandma was surprised to see her grandson's new jeans punched with holes on the knees.

Angkat bahu Shrug shoulders to shrug off responsibility .

Si kedekut itu tahu angkat bahu sahaja kepada kawan yang terpaksa meminjam duit.
That stingy fellow shrugs off friends who had to ask for a loan.

Angkat kaki To leave.

David Beckham angkat kaki meninggalkan Real Madrid untuk beraksi dengan Los Angeles Galaxy.
David Beckham left Real Madrid to play with Los Anglese Galaxy.

Angkat kening ...and angkat alis, these idiom meanings are the same.

Angkat mata Raising your eyes to protest

Pengusaha-pengusaha kecil tidak dapat angkat mata apabila harga daging ayam dinaikkan lagi.
Small businessmen cannot protest when the price of chicken went up again.

Angkat muka Older kamus defines the idioms meaning of angkat muka and angkat mata as the same - to protest. However, our Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka defines it as to pamper. From what I see, most folks still stick to the "old definition".

Angkat nama Famous.

Artis-artis angkat nama sering menjadi buah mulut ruangan gosip.
Famous artists are often the topics of gossip columns.

Anjing hitam An obviously bad person. Hmm sort of a Malay "black sheep"...?

Kaum peragut merupakan anjing hitam yang mengganas dengan motosikal.
Snatch thiefs are menaces on motorbikes.

Anjing kurap A person despised for his poverty. In my city, there are many stray dogs with full bloom mange...poor dogs.

Ayahanda Tengku Zaleha menganggap Ghazali sebagai anjing kurap dan membantah percintaan mereka.
Princess Zaleha's father despised Ghazali for being poor and objected to their courtship.

This is one of the idioms meaning inspired by a movie of P. Ramlee.

Arang di dahi Charcoal on one's forehead is humiliation.

Calon parti pemerintah tercoreng arang di dahi apabila kalah teruk dalam pilihanraya.
The ruling party candidate suffered a humiliating defeat in the election.

Arang di kening Charcoal on the eyebrows. Same as above.

Arang di muka Charcoal on the face. Same as above. Grrr quite a few similar idioms meaning.

Asam garam Experience of life, that has diverse tastes ranging from sour tamarind to salt.

Gosip ialah sebahagian asam garam kehidupan bergelar artis.
-- Ayie, Abang Datuk Siti Nurhaliza semasa desas desus tentang perhubungan beliau dengan Datuk K masih hangat dan belum diakui.
Gossip is part of the life of one called an artist.
--Ayie, Brother of Datuk Siti Nurhaliza when gossips about her relationship with Datuk K were hot and unconfirmed.

Atas angin India, Middle East and Europe. We don't know the exact point whence the Malays divide the world into " atas angin" for the West and "bawah angin" for the east. Marsden commented that in the Malay manuscripts he possessed, the Malay people used the term "orang di bawah angin" to refer to themselves more than the term "Malayu."

Suasana di ladang teh Bogor, Jakarta seperti berada di “negeri atas angin” (high country) atau sebuah pemandangan yang sering dilihat dalam filem-filem Hindi.
The atmosphere at the tea plantation of Bogor, Jakarta is similar to a high country or a familiar scene from Hindustani movies.

Atas pagar If you are on a fence, you are not taking sides, neutral.

Reaksi para peminat tentang pilihan Siti Nurhaliza: ada yang positif, ada yang negatif dan ada juga yang berada di atas pagar.
Fans' reactions towards Siti Nurhaliza's choice: some positive, some negative and some neutral.

Ayam jalak A type of fighting cock of black speckled feathers. Ayam jalak denotes a brave person in Bahasa Malaysia. In reality, I am not sure if a macho guy would REALLY like you complimenting him as a...fighting cock. Though I am sure people who keep feathery ayam jalak love to call these birds "macho chicken" hi hih... such a paradox in English. Italian sources I come across also call the literal chickens "ayam Sumatera".

Ayam tambatan Key player in a game. Somehow tambatan reminds me of the pole and the string that confines a fighting cock to an arena together with its opponent--the chicken version of a gladiator. That's why I chuckle to read the way the Malaysian press described one of my favourite footballs stars with this simpulan bahasa:

'Ayam tambatan' Brazil, Ronaldo melakukan tugas cemerlang selaku pengumpan bola cantik...
Brazil's 'key player', Ronaldo did a great job as a top scorer of goals.

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