What does 'oknum' mean in Indonesian?
Tangisan ibu pelikan dan hutan mangrove yang terbakar
A2 Indonesian listening practice · Standard Indonesian · Picked for people who know a little
Oknum is a uniquely Indonesian noun for a single bad actor inside an otherwise-respected group. Oknum polisi (a rogue cop), oknum guru (a bad teacher), oknum pejabat (a corrupt official). The word lets a speaker name wrongdoing without smearing the whole institution. Indonesian news editors reach for oknum almost daily, when reporting on a scandal where most of the group is innocent.
In this children’s animation, the mother pelican lays the blame: « pohonpohon mangrove ditebang lalu dibakar oknum manusia untuk dibangun daerah industri » (the mangrove trees were cut and burned by certain bad humans to build an industrial zone). Oknum manusia is the storybook softening: rogue individuals, not humanity itself. The fire is still total.
How common are the words?
How common are the words in this A2 Indonesian listening practice video?
How common in Indonesian
How common in spoken Indonesian
Harder words in this video
These words are harder than A2. Here is what they mean.
Source: wordfreq 3.1.1 (general) · OpenSubtitles 2018 (HermitDave) (spoken). These numbers are close, not perfect.
- ▸In Indonesian newspaper headlines on Kompas, Tempo, and Detik when reporters write oknum polisi, oknum guru, oknum DPR
- ▸On Indonesian TV news bulletins on Metro TV, Kompas TV, and tvOne when anchors cover police-misconduct or corruption stories
- ▸In Indonesian government press releases from Polri (national police) and ministries when officials distance the institution from a misbehaving member
- ▸In Indonesian school and children’s content on Bobo and in Si Kancil tales where oknum manusia names the villain in environmental fables