Mari sikat gigi ...

The Malays share quite the same language as Indonesians. We share some of the same words although some may be of different usage in Bahasa Melayu (the Malay Language) as opposed to that used by Indonesians. Pretty much, we Malays may understand what is conversed by Indonesians and vice versa.

Let me give you a similar scenario, like the Hoch-Deutsch used by Germans and the Bern-Deutsch by Swiss people. Although not fully understood, Bern-Deutsch may be partly understood by Germans and vice versa.

OK, it is not my intention to blabber you on language congruency and the like. But I'd like to share with you what I have learned today.

I just got to know that Indonesians refer to brushing teeth to as 'combing teeth'. When I heard this I pinched Dearie Husband hard at his thigh and thought that he was joking and was making a fool of me. He defended innocence and said that it was no joke.

We Malays refer brushing teeth to as 'gosok gigi'. Where gosok means to brush and gigi means teeth. However, the Indonesians refer it to as 'sikat gigi' ; where sikat means to comb. Hence for them to say 'brushing teeth' would literally mean, to us, 'combing' teeth, which is rather funny.

I find it somewhat hilarious but then again I stopped laughing and think, oh well, there may be some words used by Malays that may crack them up as much as 'sikat gigi' has made me.

Ah..let's go sikat gigi..