We would like to thank friends of Planet English from Indonesia and Malaysia for the engagement in our previous blog post named Top 9 Idioms for IELTS Speaking Band 7.0. Let’s learn 7 other English idioms which have equal translation in Indonesian:
- English: The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.
- Indonesian: Buah jatuh tak jauh dari pohonnya.
- Indonesian: Air cucuran atap jatuhnya ke pelimbahan juga.
- Meaning: a child usually has a similar character or similar qualities to their parents.
- English: Between a rock and a hard place.
- Indonesian: Bagai makan buah simalakama.
- Meaning: to be in a very difficult situation and make a hard decision.
- English: Six of one, half dozen of the other.
- Indonesian: Setali tiga uang.
- Meaning: the same, neither of two choices is better than the other.
- English: Stand on my own two feet.
- Indonesian: Berdikari (Berdiri di atas kaki sendiri).
- Meaning: to be able to provide all of the things you need for living without help from anyone else.
- English: To compare apples and oranges.
- Indonesian: Bagai bumi dan langit.
- Meaning: two things are which completely different and it is not sensible to compare them.
- English: Every cloud has a silver lining.
- Indonesian: Dalam kesulitan ada kemudahan.
- Meaning: every difficult or unpleasant situation has some advantage.
- English: A bad workman blames his tools.
- Indonesian: Buruk muka cermin dibelah.
- Meaning: someone who blames a mistake or failure on things instead of themselves.
Do you know that Indonesian and Malay are fundamentally the same language of two different varieties? They are called two different languages because of political borders. You can also disagree with us.
Do you have any other examples of English idioms which have equal translation in Indonesian or Malay? Drop your response in the comment section below.
Author and Translator: Norma Sholikah
Supported by: https://dictionary.cambridge.org/
Planet English Online 
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