Kepala Dingin In the Indonesian Language

Halo semuanya, ketemu lagi dengan saya, Iman Prabawa. This time I will talk about the meaning of an idiom in the Indonesian language. It is [kepala dingin]. As always, we will watch scenes from Indonesian movies where this idiom [kepala dingin] is spoken.

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, without further ado, let's jump right in!

Kepala Dingin In the Indonesian Language

Let me first translate this phrase word for word, and then I will explain the real meaning of this phrase. [Kepala] means head, and [dingin] means cold. If translated literally, [kepala dingin] means [cold head].

The actual meaning of [kepala dingin] is to stay calm in a difficult situation. [Kepala dingin] has the same meaning as [keep a cool head] in English.

Example sentence from the movie scene below,

1. Semua bisa dibicarakan dengan kepala dingin. 

This sentence means that everything can be discussed without involving emotions and not get into a fight. Below is the audio version of the sentence.

Next, let's hear how to pronounce [kepala dingin].

How to Pronounce Kepala Dingin

This is how you pronounce [kepala dingin].

Next, we will watch scenes from Indonesian movies so that you will see real example sentences from what Indonesian people use in real life.

Kepala Dingin In Movie Scenes

The first scene that we are about to watch is taken from a TV Serial called Mimpi Metropolitan, Episode 58. Let's watch the clip down below.

Conversation in the scene with English translations is as follows.

Mommies: Balikin, ngga! Balikin! Balikin anak kita kaya dulu! Balikin anak kita kaya dulu! (Give it back, won't you! Give it back! Give our sons back like they used to!)

Bambang: Sabar, sabar ya, sabar. Semua bisa dibicarakan dengan kepala dingin. Tenang ya, tenang ya. (Easy, come on, take it easy, mommies. We need to keep our cool head to talk about this. Calm down, please.)

Mommies: Eh ngga bisa dong, orang begini! (No, I won't calm down. You have changed our sons.)

Bambang: Eh, Mel. (Hey, Mel.)

Melani: Bang, kenapa nih? (Bang, what’s wrong?)

Mommies: Ini, mba. Dia bikin anak-anak kami jadi generasi micin. (He turns our sons into 'micin generations,' miss.)

Melani: Ha? (What?)

Kids: Hello beautiful sister. Kamu so cute. Like, literally cute. (Hello, beautiful sister. You are so cute. Like, literally cute.)

Melani: Bang, kek gini karena makan telor gulung lo? (Bang, they become like this because they ate your egg rolls?)

Bambang: Kayanya adonan saya kebanyakan micin. (I think I put too much MSG in my egg rolls cooking.)

Melani: Ibu-ibu, mendingan adik-adiknya pergi sekolah dulu ya. Ini tuh udah jam.. Tuh ya ampun, bu. Udah mau masuk jam sekolah lho, bu. (Mommies, I think your sons should go to school first. Right now, it's already... Oh, my gosh, it's almost school time.)

Bambang: Bener, bener. (Yeah, she is right.)

In this scene, Bambang sells egg rolls, and then mommies whose children buy egg rolls from Bambang come to him and make a complaint. Their children turn into 'generasi micin' because of the egg rolls that their children bought from Bambang.

Generasi micin is a term that means stupid generations. Micin is an Indonesian term for MSG. This term [generasi micin] comes about because of the thought that too much MSG in a cook will make someone stupid.

You can find MSG in many Indonesian instant noodles, and Indonesian people usually like to eat instant noodles. One brand that is really famous in Indonesia is Indomie.

Vocabulary from the Scene

[Balikin] <--- This is a colloquial way of saying [Tolong kembalikan]. This is used when you want somebody to return something to you. In this case, mommies in the scene asked Bambang to return their children to children that they used to. Their children are acting like goofballs now. That's why mommies say this word [balikin].

[Sabar] = be patient.

[Tenang] = calm. [Tenang ya] is usually used to calm someone down.

[Kenapa nih?] is usually used when you want to know what's happening. You noticed something wrong is happening, but you don't know what the problem is. You said [kenapa nih] because you want to know the problem that caused it.

[Kek] is the colloquial form of [kaya] = like.

[Gini] is short for [begini] = like this.

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

[Kebanyakan] = [terlalu banyak] = too many.

[Mendingan] = [sebaiknya]. This word [sebaiknya] is usually when you want to give advice to someone. 

[Adik-adik] is an honorific title when you call someone younger than you.

[Udah] is the colloquial form of [sudah] = already.

[Bener] is the colloquial form of [benar] = right.

     Read also: Meaning of Tumben In the Indonesian Language

I think that's all for now. If you have any questions, just leave them in the comment section, and I'll be happy to answer them, Insha Allah.

If I find another scene where this idiom [kepala dingin] is spoken, Insha Allah, I will update this article again. Thank you for reading this article, and I'll talk to you soon. Bye now.