RE: For me, It's A Bad Burger...
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maybe due to low fat factor, yeah that makes sense. but why would we eat low fat burger with cheese and bacon lol, it kills the purpose instantly. Overall the patty is still on the same level as McD, maybe healthier regarding I am not sure if McD uses real beef.
Pajak is Tax here, so it means the vendor ask me to pay for VAT. The current VAT is 12%, they still charge 10% so they will lose 2% from their price.
!BBH !ALIVE !PIMP
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Some interesting fact find with Gemini below:
Qué:
It is fascinating how a single word can drift into two completely different neighborhoods of meaning. In Malaysia, pajak usually brings to mind a pawn shop, while in Indonesia, it’s the word that makes everyone reach for their wallets: tax.
To answer your first question: yes, they are connected, but not in the way you might think. And you hit the bullseye with your Portuguese hunch!
1. The Portuguese Connection
The word pajak is indeed inherited from the Portuguese word pago (payment) or pagar (to pay).
During the 16th century, the Portuguese influence on the Malay language was massive because of their control over Malacca. Both Malaysia and Indonesia (specifically parts of the archipelago like the Moluccas) felt this linguistic impact.
2. Evolution of Meaning
While both started with the core concept of "payment," the word evolved based on the specific systems of administration used in each region.
In Indonesia (Tax)
The Dutch East Indies administration used the word to describe monopolies or farmed-out rights. The government would "lease" the right to collect tolls or sell certain goods (like salt or opium) to private individuals. This "payment for a right" eventually broadened to mean any compulsory payment to the state—hence, Tax.
In Malaysia (Pawn/Lease)
In Malaysia, the term leaned more toward the contractual and collateral side of payment. It referred to "leasing" or "holding" something in exchange for money. Over time, this became hyper-specialized to refer to the Pajak Gadai (Pawn Shop), where you receive a payment in exchange for leaving an item as security.
3. The "False Friend" Trap
This is a classic example of Linguistic Divergence. Because Malaysia was later influenced by British English and Indonesia by the Dutch, their administrative vocabularies grew apart.
It’s a bit ironic, isn’t it? One version involves getting money from a counter, and the other involves giving it to a counter.
Since you're looking into linguistic history, are you interested in other Portuguese loanwords that survived in the region, like kereta or keju?
vocab by vocab, many has gone widely different.
We still use cukai, but more on special tax such as imported luxury tax and alcohol tax. So people here will know if you talk about Cukai, but their mindset will be about some special tax.
In some region here, going to the pajak means we go to market lol. So It's understandable why many still prefer to talk in their local/traditional language instead of Bahasa.