Will You Stop Saying “Indo” If You Refer To Indonesia?

I will tell you why you need to

Thanks Batman. Credits to DC Comic.

One day at the office.
Coworker: “Copy-nya buatin versi yang Bahasa Indo juga ya…”
Me: “Yeah, sure”

One fine day during traffic rage.
Friend: “Orang Indo tuh suka seenaknya sendiri kalo nyetir”
Me : “…”

Noticed something “not right” from the conversation above?

If you don’t notice something “not right”, I beg you to follow until the end of this article.

Kijang, a long time popular car in Indonesia is a abbreviation from “Kerjasama Indonesia Jepang” (Cooperation of Indonesia-Japan). At the same time “Kijang” is Indonesian word for “deer”. Credits: Wow fact.

Indonesians have known for a long time to be advanced in shortening, from the era of typewriter to Twitter. For example; Surat Perintah Sebelas Maret (Order of the Eleventh March, a historical document) to become Supersemar; Otto Iskandar Dinata (national hero) become Otista; Monumen Nasional (National Monument) become Monas; Bandar Udara (Airport) become Bandara; “Biasa aja” (Just basic) become “B aja” (Just B); et cetera.

Shortening is in our blood, and in recent years there’s a trend to take away the -nesia from Indonesia, leaving just Indo. I often found it in daily conversation (spoken and written) and social media, with speaker/user education level…