[A. G. Maisey]

I noted your invitation David. Thank you.

I did not previously comment, largely for two reasons, firstly I cannot recall having heard the term used in reference to a weapon blade, and secondly because it is listed in alpha order in EK.

Briefly, the EK entry just says that if the face of a blade of a keris or tombak is domed & looks like the back of a pregnant lizard (a small lizard, grass lizard, "kadal") then it is referred to as "ngadal meteng".

This can also be spelt as "ngadhal meteng".

As above, I did not know it as a keris or tombak term, however, I did and do know the word "ngadhalmeteng" (ie, one word, not two) in general usage as referring to something/anything as being big/swollen in the middle. My understanding is that this is Javanese but also occurs in BI.

It is not the name of a dhapur, & if used it should only be used as a descriptor of the blade face, not the full blade.

The term can be found in EK, published 2004, and also in the forerunner of EK, "Ensiklopedi Budaya Nasional" published in 1988.

In respect of just how popular or otherwise this particular discussion group might or might not be, well, I have no idea at all.

Over a number of years I have had a real good, close look at a couple of FB keris sites, & yes, they do have enormous numbers of contributors, but personally I find the content of the overwhelming number of comments made in these FB groups to be lacking in substance, and from my own perspective, incredibly difficult to work with & to understand, the understanding thing is not at all related to use of BI or Javanese by some people, rather it is caused by some of the less than clear & rational things that are sometimes written.

I guess it comes down to what any particular person might wish to either contribute to, or gain from the content of any online discussion group in this particular field, and perhaps raw numbers of browsing people is not in any way indicative of the mindset of those who browse.