Non-native speakers, and students, of Malay often get kepala (head) mixed up with kelapa (coconut).
We had an elderly kebun (Malay for gardener) whom we kept on more to help him earn some money than anything. Any windfalls from our two coconut trees would be given to him, for his wife to make a curry with, which would always be received with great joy.
One morning, as he came to work, my uncle said excitedly to him, “Kebun, kebun, malam tadi kepala jatuh! [Gardener, gardener, last night head fell!]” The poor man went quite ashen.
In April, my siblings and I took our 85-year-old mother out for a meal, and her Indonesian maid was invited along (we always tried to, and still do, include our maids in these outings, as they generally can’t afford to on their own). The dessert was some yam mash with what was billed as coconut cream, but the white liquid didn’t quite taste of coconut milk. My sister said to the maid, “Tidak ada kepala [not have head].” (She meant to say, “Tidak ada kelapa [not have coconut].”) The maid nearly choked on her dessert.
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