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In Quest of the Forgotten Words
Words and their shadows.
by Marie Bee

Plastic mantel, rubber boots, the rainy season is definetely here.

What to do when it's raining cats and dogs?

Stay at home, study and improve one's indonesian language, for sure!
Today, a lesson about anatomy and the organs of sexuality; useful in case of a love affair, right?

Here starts the Quest for the Lost Penis. The word simply doesn't exist in the Kamus Lengkap (Complete Dictionary) put together in the 1980 edition by University Professor Doktor Wojowasito.

Indeed i could not locate the word “penis” that could have casually slipped between 'peninsula” and “penitence”. Forgotten? Vacuity and silence. Although the word doesn't exist, i would nevertheless stay away from any hasty conclusion that the object was then unknown or even maybe taboo. uhuh..

Let's find out about synonyms. “Phallus”. More stylish, the word points in a less let's say, carnal direction. In vain: my research ends up in a dead end lane. Forgotten as well. Big shadow on it... No sign of the venerable phallus although i looked hard between “phalanx' and 'phantasm'. Is this to say that neither penis nor phallus existed in 1980? Let's not even go there. As grandma used to say “ There are things better left unsaid”, a staunch catholic, she knew what it was about...

Just a question then. How do foreign patients evoke the topic at the doctor's? A drawing maybe?

What about the feminine organs now? Further research. Disappointment: no entry for the “uterus” that would have borne the Professor-Doktor himself... no more than 'vulva' – although 'vulgar' is there, black on white. But oh, victory! Let's celebrate the 'vagina' just under 'vagabondage'... And “breast' and 'nipple' are present! let's praise this scholar who signs here his gratitude towards the mother's milk...

Alas, yet another disappointment but not that surprising: no mention at all of that obscure object of the feminine pleasure. I rather not name it here so as to escape censorship and better keep it quietly hidden under its hood... Some could think that the Indonesian culture is pretty puritan, prim and proper, since a reference book such as a dictionary, a somewhat scientific method -- supposed to enlighten the mind – doesn't mention it!

Nevertheless, things change and evolve. Forget about the 1980 edition; the 2001 Kamus put together by Farida Soemargono – bless her -- answers every question and satisfies all quests ...
That's where we found out that the phallus takes his Indonesian name from the sanskrit lingam in a tribute to Shiva and to the masculine creative energy.

That's where you, big people over 18, will find out what is the Indonesian name given to the feminine part, and the name of that part of their anatomy that all males are so proud of....

Hope a little more light has now been shed on the deep dark shadows of the dictionary?