In Indonesia, there are many ways to call parents. The most common is Bapak (Father) and Ibu (Mother), which I also use for my parents. Families living in rural area may use traditional names, like Abah (Father) and Ambu (Mother), that's Sundanese style. Those living in the urban areas usually use Papa and Mama.
Recently I notice that many people use Ayah and Bunda. Kinda remind me of the parenting magazine using the same name.
When I told my Brazilian friend W about this, he broke into laughter.
"OMG, do the words have other meaning in Portuguese?" I asked.
"Well, Bunda means ass and Ayah means many. So when you say Ayah Bunda, it would mean many asses," he said.
Go ahead, check the meaning of Bunda in Portuguese. In the meantime, if you do call your parents with Ayah Bunda, please refrain from calling your parents with those offensive words when you're visiting Portuguese-speaking countries.
Anyway, my colleague Ika, who has just delivered a beautiful baby girl a month ago, chose a new nickname Keka for her daughter to call her as a mother. I think it sounds very fresh!
CKCKCKCK... bisa jauh begitu artinya ya??
ReplyDeleteaku manggil Apa n mamah... ibuku manggil ortunya bapa dan umi... nenekku manggil ortunya abah dan umi...
hahaha, gue juga gak ngerti kok bisa bunda itu berarti ibu di sini, di sana jadi *maaf* pantat. padahal seperti juga brazil, kita sempet 'dikunjungi' portugis juga ya
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