Lebay Meaning In Indonesian

Sekate-kate or Sekata-kata Meaning In Bahasa

Halo semuanya, ketemu lagi dengan saya, Iman Prabawa. In this article, I want to talk to you about the meaning of the phrase [sekate-kate] or [sekata-kata] in the Indonesian language. As always, we will watch examples from movies, youtube videos, and whatnot where the phrase [sekate-kate] or [sekata-kata] is spoken.

Sekate-kate Meaning In Bahasa

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Shall we talk about it now? Okay, let's dive in.

Sekate-kate Meaning In the Indonesian Language

When someone says something without thinking thoroughly about it, that person can be said to just say something [sekate-kate] or [sekata-kata]. Saying something you don't think through usually ends up hurting the person hearing it.

An example sentence for this would be.
Ini anak kalo ngomong sekate-kate aje ye! Woi! Mikir dulu loe kalo mau ngomong. (This kid right here just talk without thinking! Hey! You better watch your words.)
And below is the audio version of this sentence.


This phrase [sekate-kate] comes from the Betawi language, the language used by the original people of Jakarta. Nowadays, people in Jakarta are very diverse, and you rarely hear people speak the Betawi language in Jakarta. This is because many people in Jakarta are immigrants, and they don't speak the Betawi language. 

You will hear someone says it [sekate-kate], or you will hear it as [sekata-kata]. They all mean the same thing.

How to Pronounce Sekate-kate

Here is how you pronounce [sekate-kate] in the Indonesian language.


Next, we will watch examples from movies where the phrase [sekate-kate] is used.

Examples of Sekate-kate In Use

The first clip we are about to watch is from the movie Wedding Agreement: The Series. Season 1 Episode 1 (2022). Let's watch it below.


Below is the conversation from the clip with English translations.

Ami: Nih, lihat hape gue nih. Ha! Hape lejen! (Look, this is my cellphone. See? The legendary cellphone.)

Boy: Ini hape? Ini mah benda pusaka, mi. (What? This is your cellphone? This is an ancient relic, mi.)

The girl: Iya, mi. (Yeah. True.)

The boy: Loe balikin lagi ke musium sana. (You should take it back to the museum!)

The girl: Nah! Loe laminating tuh, biar kaga baret. (Yup! Get it laminated so it doesn't get scratched.)

Ami: Ih, loe bedua sekate-kate nih kalo ngomong nih. Belum aja gue silat, loe! Gue tepak, loe! Gue bilangin ya ama loe bedua. Udah deh, ngga usah kebanyakan main social media. (How rude of you! You want me to kick you? Or slap your face? I'm telling you two. Don't spend too much of your time on social media.)

In this scene, those two are mocking Ami's cell phone, which is why Ami says, "Loe bedua sekate-kate nih kalo ngomong." It means that they speak without ever thinking whether the words they just said will hurt someone or not. They don't care. They just bluntly speak.

Vocabulary From the Scene

[Nih] is used by Ami to show her cell phone to her friends in this context. In this case, it's like [here] or [look] in English.

[Lihat] = look.

[Hape] = HandPhone. It comes from the English language. You took the [H] and the [P] and then pronounced them the way Indonesian people pronounce those letters. HP will be pronounced as [hape] in the Indonesian language.

[Nih, lihat hape gue nih.] <--- The literal translations for this would be [Here, look at my cellphone here.]

[Lejen] also comes from the English language [legend], and because we pronounce it as [lejen], that's why [lejen] becomes an Indonesian word. It's borrowed from English.

[Benda pusaka] is something that is very, very old.

[Balikin] is the colloquial way of saying [kembalikan], which means returning something to its place.

[Gue, gua, gw] is an informal word for [saya] = I. You can read my article, Gue Meaning In Bahasa, for more about this.

[Loe, lu, elu, elo, lo] is an informal word for [Anda] = you. You can read my article, Loe Meaning In Bahasa, for more about this.

[Kaga] = [tidak] = no. [Kaga] is usually used by people in Jakarta to say [tidak].

[Baret] = get scratched.

[Kalo] = [kalau] = if.

[Ngomong] is the colloquial way of saying [berbicara] = talk.

[Silat] is an Indonesian martial art. [Belum aja gue silat, loe!] Here, Ami warned them to kick them using the martial art she knows. That martial art is called [pencak silat] or just [silat] for short.

[Tepak] = a slap in the head.

[Bilangin] is the colloquial way of saying [beri tahu]. [Gue bilangin ya ama loe bedua] <--- if I turn this sentence into a formal sentence, it would become, "Saya beri tahu kepada Anda berdua. (I will let you two know.)."

[Bedua] = [berdua] = the two of. It's common for Indonesian people to drop letters, like in this example, when they speak.

[Kebanyakan] = too much of something. [Kebanyakan makan] = too much eat. [Kebanyakan minum] = too much drink.


The second clip we are about to watch is taken from a movie called Calon Bini, Episode 16 (2011). In this clip, it is spoken [sekata-kata]. Let's watch the clip below.


Below is the conversation from the scene with English translations.

Udin: Bener juge, Ko. Kali aja kite kaga direstuin ama Allah deket ama Lela. (Yeah, you're right, Ko. Maybe God doesn't like us to get close to Lela.)

Anjar: Wah, sembarangan aja loe kalo bacot! Justru kalo bukan ama gua, Lela kaga bakalan cocok sandingan ama yang lain. (Whoa, you just talked nonsense. If not with me, then Lela would not suit anybody.)

Eko: Et dah! Pede banget lu bedua? Sekata-kata lu kalo ngomong. Lela entu calon bini gua. (Oh, my God! You two are too confident with yourselves. You guys speak gibberish. Lela is my future wife.)

Anjar: Woo, calon bini elu. (Whoa, your future wife? You’re dreaming, man!)

In this scene, the three of them are in love with someone named Lela, but they always fail to get close to Lela, and Udin says something hopeless like that, that maybe God doesn't like them to be close to Lela. But then, Anjar says that Udin is wrong to say something like that. Anjar then brags that nobody suits Lela but him, and then Eko hears that and replies by saying [sekata-kata], meaning that Anjar just said something without thinking. In other words, what Anjay said is complete nonsense.

Vocabulary From the Scene

[Bener] is the colloquial way of saying [benar] = true.

[Juge] = [juga] = also. Betawi people usually change the letter [a] into [e] when speaking, like in this example.

[Bener juge] = [benar juga] is usually used when you agree with what someone says. In this scene, Udin says this [benar juga] because somehow he agrees with what Anjar has said.

[Kali aja] = [kali saja] = [mungkin saja] = maybe.

[Kite] = [kita] = we, or us.

[Kaga] = [tidak] = [ngga] = no.

[Direstuin] is the colloquial way of saying [direstui]. The basic word [direstui] is [restu], which means [blessing] or [approval]. Indonesian people are big on faith, so they usually connect everything with God's blessings. In this scene, Udin says that maybe God doesn't give his blessings to them.

[Ama] is a common reduction for [sama] = with. 

[Deket] is the informal way of saying [dekat] = near.

[Sembarangan] means doing something carelessly, but in this case, what Anjar refers to is Udin's words, which he thinks are carelessly said or said without thinking thoroughly.

[Aja] is a common reduction for [saja] = just.

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

[Bacot] has the same meaning as [berbicara] = to talk. [Bacot] is considered a bit rude and is usually used between friends. In this clip, the three of them are close friends. [Wah, sembarangan aja loe kalo bacot] <--- if I turn this sentence into a more formal sentence, then it would be this, [Wah, sembarangan saja Anda kalau berbicara].

[Justru] is usually said when you want to emphasize that something can not be done if not done in a certain way. In this case, Anjar wants to emphasize that if Lela is not with him, then she would not be suitable for anybody else. Example sentence for this, [Kalau bukan karena saya, proyek ini tidak akan sukses. = If not because of me, this project would not succeed.]

[Bakalan] = [akan] = will.

[Cocok] = suitable.

[Sandingan] = [bersanding] = side by side with someone. [Bersanding] has the meaning that you are side by side with someone at a wedding in this context.

[Et dah!] is short for [busET DAH!]. This phrase is used when you are startled or when you disagree with what someone has just said.

[Entu] = [itu] = that. This word is usually used by the Betawi people.

[Calon] = candidate.

[Calon bini] = candidate for a future wife.


So I guess this is all for today. If I find another example, Insha Allah,  I will update this article again. Thank you for reading the article, and I'll talk to you soon. Bye now.

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