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Rompkrant
pijnder
Aug 11, 2011 16:36
13 yrs ago
Dutch term

sekrobi

Dutch to English Art/Literary Poetry & Literature Indonesian novel written in early 1900s
Setting is a Dutch-owned and -managed sugar mill in Central Java. The Administrator is admonishing a native employee for bad behavior and poor performance. He gives him 8 days to sort himself out and then very angrily dismisses him in disgust. He tells him to go, ending with 'Ayoh! Sekrobi!'.

'Ayoh!' means 'Go on!' in Indonesian/Malay.

Is there a Dutch word that sounds like 'sekrobi' that would be used in this context? I suspect it is an insult, like 'you asshole' or 'you reprobate', 'you ungrateful sod', etc.

Thanks for your help.
Proposed translations (English)
4 +1 scrub
Change log

Aug 11, 2011 18:39: philgoddard changed "Language pair" from "Dutch to English" to "Indonesian to English"

Aug 12, 2011 01:01: Catherine Muir changed "Language pair" from "Indonesian to English" to "Dutch to English"

Discussion

Catherine Muir (asker) Aug 18, 2011:
I understand, Eddie. Because I don't know Dutch, I would not have guessed what you guessed. So I am very grateful for your guess. I still think that, because 'sekrobi' features the sounds of 's', 'k', 'r' and 'b', schrobben is a very good guess.
Eddie R. Notowidigdo Aug 17, 2011:
Catherine, allow me to emphasize again that it's only suggestion, not founded on any reference. In time it may well turn out to be completely wrong. But for the moment it's the best I can think of.
Barend van Zadelhoff Aug 14, 2011:
Eddie Catherine should definitely not go for 'secreet'.

You know much more about Dutch words in the relevant language than all of us together.

You give a very plausible and interesting explanation of how 'schrobben' turned into 'sekrobi'.

Nice!
Catherine Muir (asker) Aug 14, 2011:
Eddie, please post your suggestion as an answer... ...then I can award points.
Eddie R. Notowidigdo Aug 14, 2011:
Moreover, 'schrobben' if pronounced in anger would become 'Schrobbe' the 'n' disappears. For the Indonesian whose ears are not familiar with the sound of 'ch' or 'g' the sound would easily be translated into 'Sekrobi', Similar words where the Dutch 'ch' has turned into a 'k' are a.o. schroef (screw) --> sekrup; school -->sekolah; schaak --> sekak
But again, does it fit in the story? Otherwise I would opt for '"Get out of here, you piece of shit!" which would be more in line with Barend's interpretation 'secreet'.
Barend van Zadelhoff Aug 13, 2011:
Catherine, I think Regi and Eddie are right
"You are not fit" is nowhere to be found in the text
I don't think you can just add it.

In Dutch it would be': Schrobben!

Of met 'ayoh' erbij 'Hup! Schrobben! Of 'Vooruit! Schrobben jij!

And the Administrator may think to himself 'sekreet' or whatever.

Don't you think that there is room for Eddie's interpretation if you look at the story from a slightly different angle?
Catherine Muir (asker) Aug 13, 2011:
'schrobben', I think Because there are the sounds of 'se' + 'k' + 'r' + 'b', I suspect 'sekrobi' derives from 'schrobben', as Eddie suggested. However, the boss is most likely saying 'Get out! You're not fit to scrub my floor!' rather than telling him to scrub the floor. In fact, the guy leaves and goes home, not staying around to work.
Regi2006 Aug 13, 2011:
Schrobben I think it should be "get out! And scrub the floor!" as suggested by Eddie.

Scrubbing the floor might be a punishment for his bad performance, or it was his real job and he should get back to work after being dismissed. He still had 8 days to sort himself out as he was not fired yet, right?

Catherine Muir (asker) Aug 12, 2011:
Definitely a transliteration of a Dutch expression Bert, it was spoken in anger by a Dutch administrator, so it wouldn't be Javanese, Sundanese, etc. I am fairly satisfied that it derives from 'schrobben', in the sense that he dismissed the employee saying, "Get out! You're not fit to scrub my floor!"
bertvandermoer Aug 12, 2011:
I know the word ayoh, but sekrobi is puzzling. Is it remotely possible that we dont have a malay word here but rather a javanese or sundanese word? These are again totally different languages.
Lianne van de Ven Aug 12, 2011:
Secreet plus... I read your other language queries as well, so I understand from the suggestions given why you ended up in this language pair.
Before I read Barend's answer I was actually thinking it might be a contraction of 'secreet' and 'microbe', or thinking... free associating, rather. I think the word 'secreet' is typically used for females and I feel the meaning comes close to 'witch'. Microbe would suggest someone is very low in rank and causes disease (pathogenic).
philgoddard Aug 12, 2011:
I'm still totally lost as to why this question is posted under Dutch to English, and what language this word is.
Catherine Muir (asker) Aug 12, 2011:
I think I've got the idea... He's clearly telling the employee to get out, calling him something rude, like 'you bastard', 'you little shit', etc. Thanks so much, Barend, for your suggestions.
Barend van Zadelhoff Aug 12, 2011:
'secreet' appears to be derived from French, it's a short form of 'chambre secrète' which means 'schijthuis' really 'geheime kamer', later 'secreet' developed into a term of abuse: mispunt, kreng

so in the end it is derived from 'secret'

a 'mispunt' can be translated as 'pain in the neck' for that matter :-)
Barend van Zadelhoff Aug 12, 2011:
not literally Hi Catherine, apart from the question whether 'sekrobi' is in fact derived from 'secreet', (I just suggested it and thought you might be better able than me to judge if it is useful) I don't think you can translate 'kreng' literally

When we Dutch people use this expression we would rather think of 'rotzak', 'ellendeling', 'secreet', etc. and these could be translated as, I think, I am not a specialist :-), bastard, son-of-a-bitch, rat, nasty piece of work, piece of scum, that kind of thing perhaps.
Catherine Muir (asker) Aug 12, 2011:
When angry or upset... ... people tend to revert to their native tongue. This is why I feel certain the Administrator cursed his employee in Dutch and why I'm looking for a Dutch word that approximates 'sekrobi'. So far, Barend's suggestion is closest, for which I am very grateful.
Catherine Muir (asker) Aug 12, 2011:
Thanks, Barend... If 'secreet' means 'secretion' and 'kreng' means 'carrion' or 'offal', maybe he's saying, "Get out of here, you piece of shit!" What do you think?
Barend van Zadelhoff Aug 12, 2011:
secreet what comes to mind - but perhaps it differs too much from 'sekrobi' is 'secreet'
but perhaps 'sekrobi' combines into one 'stuk secreet' :-)

stuk secreet dat je bent!

secreet (kreng)
(dirty) swine, sod
vrouw ook: bitch, cow, sow

Wat een misselijk stuk secreet is die zwartjoekel van een Hirsi Ali, dat natrappen en uit zijn op een persoonlijke wraakactie lijkt meer op het gedrag van ene Femke.

http://www.wakkerpedia.nl/index.php/Zwartjoekel
Regi2006 Aug 12, 2011:
Catherine, you can change the language pair back to the Dutch - English by clicking the "EDIT" button.
Catherine Muir (asker) Aug 12, 2011:
Thanks, Eddie. While he wasn't asked to scrub the floor, the boss was clearly of the frame of mind that Joyopranoto wasn't fit to scrub his floor unless he shaped up. That doesn't quite fit, but I have added the term to my database in case it pops up later on.
Catherine Muir (asker) Aug 12, 2011:
Please don't change the languages of my queries... I have tried Indonesian and Malay and wished to query Dutch speakers. I want my query to stay in the Dutch>English queries. Thank you.
Eddie R. Notowidigdo Aug 11, 2011:
The only Dutch word that would resemble 'Sekrobi' would be 'schrobben' meaning that the person has to scrub the floor as a punishment. Would that fit in this context? There are many Dutch words which have been absorbed into the Indonesian language albeit with a change in spelling e.g. a parking attendant (tukang parkir) would shout "Atret! Atret!" meaning "Achteruit!", and there are many more. So it would not surprise me if 'Ayoh! Sekrobi!' would mean 'Go, srub the floor!'.
philgoddard Aug 11, 2011:
By the way, you say he gives him 8 days to sort himself out - isn't this an instance of Dutch saying 8 where we would say 7?
philgoddard Aug 11, 2011:
I've changed the language combination to Indonesian > English, on the assumption that when you ask for a Dutch word, you mean an English word.
Tina Vonhof (X) Aug 11, 2011:
Not Dutch As far as I can see it does not resemble any Dutch word and is probably also Indonesian. You could post the question in that language combination.

Proposed translations

+1
3 days 10 hrs
Selected

scrub

As per discussion:
The only Dutch word that would resemble 'Sekrobi' would be 'schrobben' meaning that the person has to scrub the floor as a punishment. Moreover, 'schrobben' if pronounced in anger would become 'Schrobbe' the 'n' disappears. For the Indonesian whose ears are not familiar with the sound of 'ch' or 'g' the sound would easily be translated into 'Sekrobi', Similar words where the Dutch 'ch' has turned into a 'k' are a.o. schroef (screw) --> sekrup; school -->sekolah; schaak --> sekak
My two centjes, Catherine.
Note from asker:
Yes, Eddie. I'm sure that's it. As an imperative, it seems to be a way of angrily saying, 'Take a good look at yourself and sort yourself out, or else!' When the time is up, I'll choose your answer and you'll collect some points. You've given me a lot of insight, rather than just an off-the-cuff answer.
Peer comment(s):
agree Barend van Zadelhoff
19 hrs
Bedankt, Barend!
Something went wrong...
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "many thanks!"
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