The story
Karet is rubber, and the hour stretches to fit. The official Indonesian dictionary lists the phrase and defines it plainly, as time that runs behind the hour agreed for a meeting. Jakarta offers it as a joke and an alibi in one breath.
jam karet
jahm KAH-ret[d͡ʒam ˈkaret]
'rubber time': the hour stretches to fit, and everyone knows it will
Closest in English: lateness, tardiness, unpunctuality. None of them covers it.
Watch the word
A real game of this word, in 21 seconds.
How it went in the game
Played by 50 people.
Two in five placed it in Indonesian straight away; most of the others went for Malay (Malaysia).
Of those who bet on the translation, one in ten got it exactly.
Harder than most words so far.
The four rounds
Contains the answers. If you want to play the word yourself first, leave this closed.
- Which language is it from?Indonesian
- What does it literally say?Rubber-time
- Where would you hear it?A meeting that starts when it starts
- What does it mean?Time treated as a rough guide
More Indonesian words
All Indonesian words ›More about time
- iktsuarpok Inuktitut
- ppalli-ppalli Korean