ThePhils > Philippines > Philippines in general > Filipino Languages, Translations, Misunderstandings, etc.
ThePhils > Philippines > Philippines in general > Filipino Languages, Translations, Misunderstandings, etc. |
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Carabao Kevin Super Moderator 
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Here is a GREAT true story! Not long after my wife got here she brought some lunch to me at work. Now my wife knows that there are a lot of Spanish words in Tagalog and in Cebuano(her "home" language). Well, we are eating together and a Mexican friend comes and sits with us. I speak some Spanish, and understand more than I can speak of it. My nice wife being the courteous Filipina she is, looks at my friend and asks him "do you want Puto ?" held out some Filipino Puto. My Mexican friend looks at me in a very puzzled way and says "hey, what the F**K is your wife trying to say?" I couldn't keep a straight face any longer, I was the only one of us 3 that understood the whole misunderstanding. Filipino Puto - Food, a type of "rice cake" Mexican Spanish Puto - A male Homosexual My Mexican friend thought my wife asked "Do you want, - PUTO!?" Thinking she was offering him a piece of cake and calling him a homosexual! Of course she asked "Do you want Puto?" We all had a great laugh afterwards, when the embarrassment was over for the both of them. Anyone else have any great language problem stories? Lets hear them. thanks, -Mabuhay- Last edited on Wed May 31st, 2006 05:08 pm by Carabao Kevin |
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Patric THEPHILS.COM Administrator 
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Well, my first trip to The Philippines & i was sitting in Jollibees with a Pinay. You all know however masarap their Champ burgers are... they are also very juicy. Me beeing a fast eater ( my wife says i eat like a dog - " Patric, slow down...i´m not going to take your food away from u ! ") Hehe. Sooo, anyway sitting there making sure nobody takes my food.... results in me needing a napkin...so i ask a waitress for some napkins... The girl i´m with looks embarrassed & the waitress even more so..... I thought she just didnt understand my request so i asked her again..... the waitress gets this strange look on her face and walks away soon to be back with som napkins. All is well i think, until the girl i´m with explains the difference between the definition of napkin & tissue in The Philippines. He he, it made me laugh !  Cheers ! Last edited on Sat Jun 17th, 2006 03:23 am by Patric THEPHILS.COM |
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Carabao Kevin Super Moderator
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Patric THEPHILS.COM wrote:
That's a good one. I had a very similar thing to happen. As we were sitting in our home one day, my wife tells me she needed a napkin, so I went to the kitchen and Fetched one for her. She said, "don't be silly!" She had to explain it to me also. So I went to the store for her. -Mabuhay- |
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Carabao Kevin Super Moderator
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It was my first trip to the PHILIPPINES. I knew that "O O" is TAGALOG for "YES", but sometimes they slang it a little. You know "Ah AH" or whatever sounds close depending on the person who you are talking to. Thats cool, here in the states we slang a lot of words also. Well, my wife (not my wife at the time) & I had been walking Makati for some time now (I THINK we were STILL in Makati). We decided we wanted something to eat. We spotted a Jolly Bee or McDonalds, I don't remember which. We go inside, I ask my wife: "Do you want a Coke - something to drink?" She replied: "Uh Uh". And went to the Comfort Room. I wait in line and order food and a LARGE Diet Coke. The young lady taking my order says "sorry sirrrr, we are out of Diet". I reply "Ok, I'll have a regular". Cute Pinay responds "Sorry sir, there is no Diet". Me: "That's ok, make it a regular". Cute Pinay:"There is no diet sir, I am sorry" She is looking nervous, me I'm feeling stupid. I turn around in hopes my "date" is nearby, NO SUCH LUCK, I am the only KANO in the place! I knew there had to be a language barrier, but couldn't figure out the problem. So I order: "I'll have a 7-Up, or Mt. Dew, which ever you have." Cute Pinay: "You want that a regular, sir" Then it hit me, I was trying to order a Reg. Coke, she thought I wanted a Reg. Size Diet Coke. My Reply:"I'll have a Large, Please" As I am breaking out in a sweat with embarrassment and joy it's over. Being glad that was all over, I proudly walk off into the crowd looking for my "date" among many of the same size and hair color people. YIKES. Finally, I see a hand waving upstairs, I go up there, so very proud that I have conquered that fast food ordering in a foreign country. I sit down, we divide the food. Then my wife (date) asks: " Where's my drink?" I say: "HUH?" In a dumb male caveman-KANO type of way. She repeats: "Where's my drink?" I shoot back: "You said "Uh UH!" She said: "I know, Where's my drink?" (Now maybe she said "Ano?" which is Tagalog for "WHAT?") I said "O-O" is yes in Tagalog, but "UH-UH" is NO in the U.S. - hey we have got to stick to one language here, or this aint gonna work" Then she said: "What took sooo long?" I explained the whole painful event, and ended with "sorry, IF you want a drink, you will have to go get it, otherwise just share mine" She went and bought a drink came back and we had a good laugh together. -Mabuhay- |
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Patric THEPHILS.COM Administrator
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I noticed something on my first trip & that was that people in The Phils dont seem be as likely to correct u if u for example pronounce something the wrong way.... I spent 3 days in Manila, during that time i must have mentioned that i was heading for Iloilo to atleast 10-15 different people. Since i never ever heard the right pronunciation of Iloilo i´d been saying il_oil_o... Not till i was sitting at the Domestic airport talking to a Phil/American who told me that it was Ilo_ilo... I´m wondering if this was just a coincedence or if it might have something to do with "saving face"... not making me feel embarrassed or something... Cheers ! |
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Carabao Kevin Super Moderator
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GREETINGS TO ALL of the GREAT Members on thephils.com!, Here is a question that I have, and so far I have not found anyone that can answer it. Q. - Why is the Country called PHILIPPINES with a "PH" but the People are called Filipinos with an "F"?  Now, I thought that The Islands were named after King Philippe of Spain? ....If this is true, the "H" is silent in SPANISH, so wouldn't that make it properly pronounced "PILIPINES"? I have heard it called that! So, was it the Americans that changed the way it is Pronounced?I sincerely apologize in advance if I offend someone by my assumption, or mis-assumption on the words & pronunciations. Thank You - Salamat -Mabuhay- |
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Sirena Moderator 
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I've lost track of how many times the language barrier has resulted in laughter or embarassment, though English people don't use 'uh uh' instead of no, so I haven't encountered that problem. In my partner's dialect the words for 'vinegar' and 'vomit' are almost identical, and I once embassased myself at the dinner table at his parents house when (trying to practise my language skills) I politely asked his sister to pass the puke! |
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Patric THEPHILS.COM Administrator
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When going to a Doctors clinic in November last year i went up to the front desk & talked to the nurse who told me to have a seat till the Doc was available. I told the nurse that i´d step outside (tinted glass doors, i could see in & the nurse could see me) a have a smoke while i waited. The nurse said "No, u wait" (& pointed behind me where there were sofas & chairs). I said "Yeah, but i´m just gonna stand outside the doors & have a smoke" nurse: "U wait!" I looked at her, confused & thinking; what´s with this nurse? i´m not going anywhere...just gonna stand outside....The nurse looked at me with a facial expression like ; what´s wrong with u?!?.... nurse: "wait !" pointing again behind me. Now i thought; ok ok... i´ll just sit down & wait then..no big deal, & when i turned around, i saw a scale!! Aha, she wasnt saying "wait" she was saying "weigh"  .I laughed & said "sure, no problem" |
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Sirena Moderator
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When I first arrived in this Boracay around 8 years ago I didn't know where to shop for things. On my hunt for 'ladies products' I was directed to a large store but I still couldn't find them so I asked the cashier. At first she thought I was looking for babies diapers but I finally managed to convey what I wanted (her English was very poor), and once it dawned on her she leaned across the counter and "whisper!" and pointed to a corner of the shop. I apologised profusely - and in a hushed voice - thinking I'd offended her by discussing 'feminine hygiene' out loud, but only when I got to the right section of the shop did I realise that "Whisper" is actually the brand name for the product! Oops!  |
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Sirena Moderator
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Sorry, I meant to put "she leaned over the counter and SAID "whisper"! |
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chinitadacat Member 
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The tagalog of philipines is PILIPINAS, in philipines we ussually call our country pilipinas, and philipines in english, hehe i dont know if this will help ya, filipino is spanish words i think and pilipino is tagalog. did i make sense? hehe |
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Carabao Kevin Super Moderator
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chinitadacat wrote: The tagalog of philipines is PILIPINAS, in philipines we ussually call our country pilipinas, and philipines in english, hehe i dont know if this will help ya, filipino is spanish words i think and pilipino is tagalog. did i make sense? hehe Hi chinitadacat ......WELCOME to thephils.com Thank you for your reply. I think I understand , basically, we are talking about 3 different languages, so that is how we ended up with 3 different spellings and/or ways to pronounce it. Makes sense....kinda .-Mabuhay- -Kevin |
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chinitadacat Member
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you're welcome, that is a good question anyway, i would have never think about that ever if i didn't see it here:-) Im very proud of the western who wants to learn almost everything about Philippines. i just want to add this maybe it will make it a little bit easier to understand: Philippines=english Filipinas=spanish Pilipinas=tagalog Filipino=spanish Pilipino=tagalog i think in the US they call our country Philippines and the people Filipino:-) Last edited on Wed Jan 10th, 2007 06:44 pm by chinitadacat |
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Sirena Moderator
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Another one that makes me smile is when some Filipinos say "I'm boring!" or "I'm tiring!" when they actually mean "I'm bored" or "I'm tired". There's a big difference between the meanings! And I have to remind my partner not to say "FART" when he means "part"!  |
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zsigred Member 
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Sirena wrote: Another one that makes me smile is when some Filipinos say "I'm boring!" or "I'm tiring!" when they actually mean "I'm bored" or "I'm tired". There's a big difference between the meanings! hahaha...never heard any Filipino say that, although many of my Korean students make that mistake a lot! |
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Sirena Moderator
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By the way, can anyone tell me what the word "kikay" means? |
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lumbia Member
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Hi Serena: There are two ways of interpreting Kikay. Firstly, Kikay or Kika is the female version of Kiko. Kikay/Kika or Kiko is somebody who acts silly, funny or a clown. I believe it comes from the word Kingkoy, a Filipino version of a certain cartoon character. Secondly, a person named Francisco can be nicknamed Kiko, Kikoy, Iko or Iking. Of course for the female Francisca is Kika or Kikay, Ika or Ikang. Hope this helps. |
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lumbia Member
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Sirena wrote: Another one that makes me smile is when some Filipinos say "I'm boring!" or "I'm tiring!" when they actually mean "I'm bored" or "I'm tired". There's a big difference between the meanings! Funny but these are not surprising to Pinoys. We have to understand that "F/f" is not in the Filipino/Bisayan alphabets. I hear a lot of my friends say Pader instead of Father when they talk about their father. They know how to pronounce the word father correctly, yet they use this word as a term of endearment to their folk. "th" is not also in the filipino "tongue". The nanny of a former colleage tried to speak english to her kid, and said, " Pe-nis your food, bebe", instead of "Finish your food, baby". I jsut have to take it in context to understand what she meant. Hope Fil linguists will share their expertise here! |
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welshy Member
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yes i got some funny looks when i asked for "ethlog" which i was told means eggs, but have found out it also means testicles!!!! so people thought it quite amusing in the bus station when i said that i need two of them coz i left mine (i cooked some for the journey) at the guesthouse. haha did i feel a twat when i told a filipino friend about it later, glad i won't be goin back to tacloban in a long time!!!!!! |
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Paul Moderator 
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welshy wrote: yes i got some funny looks when i asked for "ethlog" which i was told means eggs, but have found out it also means testicles!!!! so people thought it quite amusing in the bus station when i said that i need two of them coz i left mine (i cooked some for the journey) at the guesthouse. haha did i feel a twat when i told a filipino friend about it later, glad i won't be goin back to tacloban in a long time!!!!!! LOL. No worries, Welshy. I'm sure the Filipinos enjoyed your attempt (assuming it was your first), upon saying it. |
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sanjuanboy Member 
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Sirena wrote: By the way, can anyone tell me what the word "kikay" means? According to my wife, "kikay" means "things that girly-girls do", like makeup, bags, shoes, anything to do with girls and making "paganda" or "pacute"... like my wife's makeup kit, she calls it "kikay kit"... whatever the hell that means... |
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Carabao Kevin Super Moderator
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sanjuanboy wrote: Sirena wrote:By the way, can anyone tell me what the word "kikay" means? Funny..... My wife just said the exact same thing that sanjuanboy's wife said. For a better translation, maybe the word in a sentence would help. As pointed out by LUMBIA, there are also other meanings. -Mabuhay- -Kevin |
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lumbia Member
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Hi kevin, I would say I'm not current anymore of these terminologies. I didn't know that kikay kit has this meaning. How words evolved ! Hmmmm, I suspect my teen nieces are more familiar of this funny word. |
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Sirena Moderator
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That's actually where my question originated. I'd seen the term 'kikay kit' in a magazine and wanted to know what it meant. Thanks - makes sense now. |
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Sirena Moderator
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Can anyone explain to me what a 'jolog' is? |
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Carabao Kevin Super Moderator
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Sirena wrote: Can anyone explain to me what a 'jolog' is? Hi Sirena, Jolog is a type of insult. A way of calling someone a "NO CLASS" or "LOW CLASS" This is usually termed only towards the younger people & teens. It would somewhat be the same as what we (here in the STATES) might mean when someone calls another "WHITE TRASH" or "GHETTO" Here is a something I found: Originated from Jolina Magdangal Organization whose fans are those lower class filipinas who, if not unemployed, work as housemaids and worship Jolina's lack of taste in fashion. Today jologs could mean anything that is lousy and of low class. 1. Derived from the combined words daing (salted fish), tuyo (a type of dried fish) and itlog (egg). Dyolog then became Jolog, a term for someone who is tacky, but implied in a more negative tone and often referred to people who belong to the lower class of society. 2. "Baduy", "skwating", tacky 3. Someone who likes Jolina Magdangal (a tacky, teeny-bopper wannabe) 4. Jolina Organization 5. Someone from the lower class of society who tries to be cool but ends up a failure and in turn becomes a "jolog" -Mabuhay- -Kevin |
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Sirena Moderator
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Thanks for clearing that one up! Here's another thing that I've been wondering about. A Filipina friend of mine recently described attending the funeral of the child of one of her workers (a carpenter). He and his wife had just lost their little son to an illness, and were devastated. My friend paid for the coffin as the family are desperately poor, and attended the wake. She then went on to describe how half the neighbourhood turned up at the house expecting to be fed! How sad that this little family who were going through such a horrific experience were then put under the pressure of having to feed everyone, when they could ill afford to do so. Is this normal? In my experience, people behave the opposite - in other words they would come over and bring a casserole or something! They would help and console the grieving family, not expect things from them! How does this normally happen here? Thankfully I have not had cause to know much about funerals... Last edited on Fri Apr 20th, 2007 12:33 pm by Sirena |
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Sirena Moderator
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While I think of it, can anyone tell me what kind of food is kwek-kwek? |
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lumbia Member
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I haven't tried kwek-kwek but I saw it in a photoblog section (http://www.mindanao.com) . You may search for it in the section to view the photo. Quite famous in Davao City. It's described as boiled egg coated with flour and fried. Looks like a modified doughnut without a hole! |
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joysweet Member 
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Sirena wrote: While I think of it, can anyone tell me what kind of food is kwek-kwek? this is like fried breaded boiled egg. for some, it might look gruesome because the breading is a bright orange color that doesn't look remotely appetizing |
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