Tingling and Pins and Needles

I guess a translation of a term relates closely to a culture in their respective languages.

A discussion on “tingling and pins and needles” have been a pain for some translators in the language pair English Indonesian.

The term “kesemutan” is a feeling of being bitten by ants in Indonesian. As can be seen here from KBBI:

ke·se·mut·an a berasa senyar (geranyam) pd anggota badan, spt digigit semut, terutama kaki dan tangan (krn lama duduk tanpa bergerak-gerak atau tertekan terlalu lama dsb): krn terlalu lama bersimpuh, kakiku menjadi –

The English “tingling and pins and needles” can be loosely and general translated as “kesemutan”.

If the translation text is of a general term for a general purpose this translated choice is sufficient. But, for more specific one, it is not.

The English term of “tingling” is:

to have a sensation of slight prickles, stings, or tremors, as from cold, a sharp blow, excitement, etc.: I tingle all over.

As for “pins and needles”:

a tingly, prickly sensation in a limb that is recovering from numbness.

The Indonesian solution for the case on hand ranges from:

senyar, cekit-cekit, geringgingan, rasa geli

hopefully more terms can be found that has etymological point of reference from the regional languages of Indonesia.

I expect the exploration of such terms and discussions help us to cure that “pain” and releases us of the “pain” and give us a relieve instead.

Hopefully.