Sotoy Meaning In Bahasa Indonesia

Halo semuanya, apa kabar? Ketemu lagi sama saya, Iman Prabawa. This time, I'm going to talk about the meaning of sotoy. This is a slang term in Bahasa Indonesia. We will also watch scenes from movies where the word [sotoy] is used by the Indonesian people to better understand the meaning of the word and how to use it.

If you have any questions regarding the Indonesian language, you can ask me directly. You can see how to do that on my About Me page. 

If you are a beginner in the Indonesian language, you can learn step by step with My Lesson Here.

So, let's jump right in!

Sotoy In Bahasa Indonesia

[Sotoy] is when you act like you know about everything when, in fact, you don't. [Sotoy] is the slang version of the word [sok tahu]. Both mean the same.

How to Pronounce Sotoy

Let's hear how to pronounce [sotoy] down below.


Next, I will give you three example sentences using the word [sotoy].

Example Sentences Using Sotoy

The first example sentence using the word [sotoy] is as follows.

1. Ih! Loe kalo ngga tahu jangan sotoy deh! (Please, don't feel like you know it all when you know nothing about it!

And below is how you pronounce the sentence.

The second example sentence using the word [sotoy] is as follows.

2. Ya elah, suka sotoy ini anak! Loe tuh ngga tahu tapi njeplak aja gitu ya? (If you know nothing about this, please don't be a Mr. Know-It-All.)

And below is how you pronounce the sentence.

The third example sentence using the word [sotoy] is as follows.

3. Makanya jangan sotoy jadi orang! Rasain loe! (That's your reward for being a smartass.)

And below is how you pronounce the sentence.

Next, we will watch examples taken from movie scenes where the word [sotoy] is spoken.

Examples of Sotoy In Use

In this section, we will watch examples from movie scenes where the word [sotoy] is used by the Indonesian people.

The first scene we are about to watch is taken from a web series, Usia Panik, Episode 1 (2019). Let's watch this scene below.

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The conversation in that scene with English translation is as follows.

Alan: Aduh. Serius banget, bu? Lagi milih foto buat posting di Instagram, ya? (You're so serious, ma'am! Are you choosing a photo that you want to post on Instagram?) 

Gina: Jangan sotoy! (Don't be such a smartass!) 

Alan: Ya, kan biasanya kaya gitu, bu. Cewe-cewe tuh kalo misalnya mo posting di IG. Galeri foto diubek-ubek semuanya, cuman buat 1 foto. Kenapa ya bu, ya? (I'm talking based on my experience, ma'am. Usually, girls, when they want to post a photo on Instagram, they rummage through all their photos just to pick one photo. Do you know why they are doing that, ma'am?) 

Gina: Loe tuh ya! Daripada loe nanyain yang ngga penting, mendingan loe bantuin si Nyong tuh! Kasihan tuh, dia sibuk sendiri tuh. (Oh, come on! Instead of asking questions that aren't important, why don't you help Nyong? Poor him! He works alone there.) 

Alan: Iya, iya bu. Naik gaji bu, naik gaji. (Okay, okay ma'am. How about raising my salary, mam?) 

Gina: Naik gaji mulu loe, kerja ngga, dari tadi deh. (Hey! Always asking for a salary raise, but I never see you working.) 

Alan: Iya, ngga, siap! Oke. (Okay. I'm sorry to bother, ma'am.)

In this scene, Alan looks at his boss, looking busy, and then he makes a guess what his boss is doing, but the way he makes a guess is so confident that his guess is correct. That's why his boss says to him, "Jangan sotoy!" which means that what he was just guessing is wrong.

Vocabulary From the Scene

[Aduh] is usually said when you are in pain, but in this context, [aduh] can have meaning like [oh my God].

[Banget] = very.

[Bu] is an honorific title used to address older women. In this case, Alan uses [bu], which is short for [ibu], to address his boss.

[Lagi] = again, but in this context, the word [lagi] is used to indicate that someone is in the middle of doing something. In this case, his boss is in the middle of working using her laptop.

[Milih] is a common reduction for [memilih] = to choose something.

[Buat] = for.

[Kan] is used just to emphasize something. It has no meaning. For example, Ya, kan? (Right?)

[Biasanya] = usually.

[Kaya gitu] = like that.

[Cewe] = girl.

[Cewe-cewe] = girls.

[Kalo] is informal for [kalau] = if.

[Misalnya] = for example.

[Diubek-ubek] means looking for something untidily, rummage.

[Cuman] is informal for [cuma] = just.

[Kenapa ya?] is usually used when you want to know why something is.

[Daripada] = instead of.

[Loe tuh ya!] is usually used when you are annoyed by someone, like in this scene where Gina feels annoyed by Alan's asking, she says this phrase. After saying this phrase, usually, you will give advice to that person.

[Ngga penting] = unimportant.

[Bantuin] is the colloquial form of [membantu] = to help someone. For example, "Bisa tolong membantu saya? (Can you help me?" This phrase is formal, and if it is being said in a daily conversation, usually Indonesian people will change it into, "Bisa tolong bantuin saya?"

[Sibuk] = busy.

[Naik gaji] = salary raise.

[Loe] is informal for [Anda] = you. For more about this, you can read my article, Loe In the Indonesian Language.

[Kerja] = work.

[Ngga] = [tidak] = no.

The second scene is taken from a movie, Kukira Kau Rumah (2021). Let's watch the short scene below.

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Below is what she said in the scene above with English translations.

Niskala: Eh, anak sotoy! Awas loe! Lihat nih! Tugas gue dapet nilai A. Memang loe aja yang sok tahu. Loe paham ngga sih kalo.. (Hey, you, Mr. Know-It-All! Get out of my way! Look at this! I just got an A. It's just you who is being a smartass. Don't you understand that..)

In this scene, Niskala is angry with Pram because Pram is being a smartass by saying that her assignment paper won't get an A because, in his opinion, there are a lot of mistakes in her assignment paper.

That's why when Niskala finally got an A for his assignment paper, she rushed to meet Pram to prove that he was wrong. 

[Sotoy] here proves that Pram only acts like he knows everything, which in fact, his opinion is totally wrong. Instead of getting a B for his assignment paper, she got an A. That's why Niskala said, "Eh, anak sotoy!" to Pram.

Vocabulary From the Scene

[Awas loe!] can be used to threaten someone or can be used to ask to clear the path, to someone who's getting in your way. To ask to clear the path of people who are getting in your way, you can also say, "Awas, awas, awas, awas."

[Lihat nih!] is used when you want someone to look at something that you want to show to them.

[Tugas] = assignment.

[Gue] is informal for [saya] = I. For more about this, you can read my article, Gue In the Indonesian Language.

[Dapet] is the informal form of [dapat] = get.

[Dapet nilai A] = got an A.

[Memang loe aja..] is used to describe what someone is, usually in a bad way.

     Read also: Meaning of Sok Tahu In Bahasa

So, I think this is a wrap. I hope that you understand the meaning of this [sotoy], and if you have any questions, just write them down in the comment section. Thank you very much, and I'll talk to you soon. Bye now.