Different Levels of Stupidity, defined in Malay
A few days back I had some conversation with my friends, and I’m quite surprised that many of them do not know about various Malay words that are used to represent various level of stupidity. So this time I’m going to talk about them.
Note: These are merely my opinion, based on observation on how people use them on a daily basis. It might not reflect the actual meaning of the word as defined by our dictionary.
The level of stupidity is defined from mild to severe from top to bottom:
Bodoh (pronounced bo-doh):
Generally the same as when you use the word ‘stupid’.
Benak (pronounced buh-nak):
Very slow to learn. Always don’t get the point. Blur.
Sengal (pronounced se-ngal):
Originally this word refers to numb and painful part of the body like your joints, etc. But this usage refers to the respective subject’s brain. Therefore it refers to someone who is generally intelligent, but behave like a complete numbnuts. Sometimes topped with some major ego.
Bongok (pronounced bo-ngok):
A little bit more stupid than Bodoh. Typically referring to a group of people that have similarly stupid ideals, i.e. the government, a body, a company, a union. Can also be used to individuals for the same level of stupidity.
Bangang (pronounced baa-ngang):
An idiot. Also used for stupidly horny bastards.
Bahlul / Bahlol (pronounced bah-lol):
Complete idiot. Those who have the knowledge but for some reason completely refuse to use them. Think of these people that have their intelligence switch turned off on purpose.
Bengap (pronounced buh-ngap):
Generally stupid, and takes very hard lession to learn. Slightly lower level than ‘complete idiot’
Tolol (pronounced to-lol):
Completely stupid, and will never ever learn regardless of how much you teach this person. His brain just simply unable to learn anything beyond what he knows. In other words, a lost case.
Sewel (pronounced say-whale):
Silly. Crazy. Completely lost it.
So there we have it. If I recall a few more words, I’ll update this post! :D
say whale..
that got me laughing like a madman..
If I recall correctly, some of my teachers use the word “Mangkuk” / “Mangkuk Hayun” before on certain students. Does that count?
How about ‘Sempal’? it’s close as being sengal ;p
Bebal.
Tiang Talipon.
Uhh.. how about “bengong”?
waa……….. never cross my mind since I left that there are, must say, a lot of categories to scold someone. ; ) emmm ………… must be quite a stressful person who used it – the more stress, the worse category is used. Appreciate this language lesson, though. I'll be careful about it.
good one dude. however if possible please create a matrix so it can be used to clasify people.