Candaan Andre dan dokter di Ini Talk Show

What does “kode” mean in Indonesian slang?

On the comedy talk show Ini Talk Show, a guest mock-scolds a doctor for being cryptic: «jangan pakai sandi morse... kok sebagai kode-kode» (“don’t use Morse code... why speak in codes?”). Kode means “code,” but in everyday Indonesian it also means a hint or signal.

To ngasih kode (“give a code”) is to drop a hint, especially a romantic one, and a kode keras is a “strong hint” nobody could miss. Note the doubling, kode-kode: Indonesian repeats words for plural or a casual, scattered feel. A small word at the center of a lot of flirting and teasing.