Becak Aspal (The Faux Pedicab)

No, of course I don’t mean the word that is defined as “asphalt” in English. The as-pal (mind the dash) here is the Indonesian slang contraction which stands for Asli-tapi-Palsu (Real-yet-Fake).

Real-yet-Fake is indeed a bit too long for an English equivalent. I agree with that. That’s why I was so delighted to find out the exact English equivalent just now: “faux-“.

And also, “pedicab” is the English word for the Indonesian “becak”. Rickshaw is the term which is more appropriate for the Chinese ‘pulled’ ones, instead of the Indonesian ‘pushed’ ones.

Just remember to add another word after that dash.

Let me digress.

I also found this interesting quote just now:

“The best place to hide something is in plain sight” Agatha Christie.