idiom examples

[Waruno Mahdi]

> I have consulted a number of references but have been unable to locate any
> examples of subject-oriented idioms in Bahasa Indonesia or Malay.  I have
> in mind idioms in English such as "the cat is out of the bag", "the fur
> will fly", and so on.  If anyone could provide me with a few examples of

(1) Nasi sudah menjadi bubur (lit: rice already become porridge)

               "it's too late to do anything about it;
                what's done cannot be undone;
                it's no good to cry over spilled milk"

              (if you boil rice too long, it's not possible
               to unboil it back to "al dente". That was before
               they invented parboiled...)

(2) Anjing menggonggong, kafilah lalu  (lit: dog barks, caravan passes)

               (is of course not an original Malay/Indonesian saying....)

these are just tweo I thought of at the spur of the moment. Will be back
with more as they trickle back into my memory....

Regards,   Waruno

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Waruno Mahdi                  tel:   +49 30 8413-5411
Faradayweg 4-6                fax:   +49 30 8413-3155
14195 Berlin                  email: mahdi at fhi-berlin.mpg.de
Germany                       WWW:   http://w3.rz-berlin.mpg.de/~wm/
-----------------------------------------------------------------------