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raised my eyebrow slightly in confusion reading the words such as harmonisasi, kudetanisasi, statusisasi, kontroversi hati and konspirasi kemakmuran among others over my facebook wall, news feeds and whatsapp.

The words seem Indonesian enough, but they are nonsensical gibberish. Odd and weird as they may seem, the newly created slang words have gone viral in the social media; discussed, imitated, reproduced and recreated.

Later I find out that this new hype originated from a man named Vicky Prasetyo aka Hendrianto, who rose to fame after his much publicized bizarre love affair with dangdut singer Saskia Gotik, renowned for her goyang itik, Oh yeah, he has definitely secured a spot in our celebrity world! Just like Arya Wiguna'€™s demi Tuhan'€¦

And how we love such hilarious uproar, a butt of jokes to kill the stressful days!

Watching and hearing his speech, I had to scratch my head several times. I could barely understand what he was trying to say by his wrongly mixed Indonesian-English. I got the impression that he was attempting to climb up a social ladder, trying to sound sophisticated and intelligent.

After all, refinement is the quality that separates ditsy celebrities from the true elite; lack of sophistication is a crime in the socialite world, some would say.

Unfortunately, he failed. Yes, he may succeed in stealing people'€™s attention, bringing a new trend on how Indonesians use the language incorrectly. But, at the end of the day, he becomes a butt of joke in which people draw mirth and laughter from his false sophistication.

Nonetheless, don'€™t we all have a bit of Vicky within ourselves?

Just to be accepted in a certain social class, we have to pretend to be something that we are not. We strive to pepper our talk with foreign words, adorn our appearance with the latest fashion and modern gadgets, or go to fancy restaurants while we can hardly afford them.

At the end of the day, piles of bills give us a constant headache. To find the way out, we take short cuts, corrupting our character bit by bit. Living a lie becomes unbearable. To get accepted by pretending is killing us. It sucks.

But sometimes we still do that despite the torture.

I remember trying so hard to be accepted in certain circles through such pretensions. I peppered my talk with foreign words, discussing things I barely knew while smiling in agony, as I didn'€™t feel it was where I belong.

I was wrong. Able to speak foreign language does not make you smart or an intellect. It does not automatically guarantee you to obtain a higher status or carve a cooler image. It'€™s the way you present yourself through your words, attitude and character that matters the most.

A lesson we can learn from this hype is that we do not have to use sophisticated dictions just to look smart, or intelligent. What is the use of speaking in mixed Indonesian-English while your audience does not understand a word you are saying?

Worse, speaking with unintelligible words solely to make you look smart will only make you the target of endless jokes.

Yuni Herlina
Depok, West Java