If you think Filipinos do not speak good English then think again. Maybe it is you who do not speak good Filipino-English. Filinglish? Time to brush up on your Taglish.
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| http://cnnphilippines.com/lifestyle/2018/10/11/oxford-dictionary-trapo-bongga-Filipino-words.html |
Coincidentally in time for the Philippines' election season, the Oxford English Dictionary added a new word to its extensive list: trapo.
"In Philippine English, a trapo is 'a politician perceived as belonging to a conventional and corrupt ruling class'," Oxford defined in a statement.
It cited the word as an example of the multilingualism of the Philippines, because not only is it an abbreviation of "traditional politician" but is also an allusion to the Tagalog word that means rag, which in turn was borrowed from Spain.
And isn't that just bongga?
"Another new item from Philippine English is the adjective bongga, borrowed from Tagalog, which means extravagant, flamboyant, impressive, stylish, or (more generally) excellent," Oxford added.
Aside from that, at least nine new Filipino words have been added to the dictionary as of October this year. Not surprising to Filipinos, they're all related to food.
These words are: bagoong, bihon, calamansi, carinderia, ensaimada, palay, panciteria, sorbetes and turon.
Yeah sure. That's just "bongga." From the OED press release:
In Philippine English, a trapo is ‘a politician perceived as belonging to a conventional and corrupt ruling class’. Trapo’s complex etymology exemplifies the multilingualism of the Philippines: it is an abbreviation of the English phrase ‘traditional politician’, but with punning allusion to the Tagalog word trapo (‘rag’), which in turn is borrowed from Spanish. Another new item from Philippine English is the adjective bongga, borrowed from Tagalog, which means extravagant, flamboyant, impressive, stylish, or (more generally) excellent.
https://public.oed.com/blog/new-words-notes-september-2018/
Perhaps one could say the multilingualism of the word "trapo" also reflects the multiculturalism and mulithethnicity of Filipinos themselves. With the blood of not only various native tribes and people groups but also outsiders such as Malays, Chinese, Spaniards, and other Europeans, Filipinos are a hodgepodge of assorted races all boiling over from the rainbow stew of the global melting pot. A united nation of divided people.
But wait! There's more! Yes this is not the first time Filipino-English words have made it into the OED.
Here you can find a list of the new Filipino words and senses added to the OED in the June 2015 update.
- advanced adj.
- bahala na int.
- balikbayan n.
- baon n.
- barangay n.
- barkada n.
- barong n.
- barong tagalog n.
- baro’t saya n.
- batchmate n.
- buko n.
- carnap v.
- carnapper n.
- comfort room n.
- despedida n.
- dirty adj.
- estafa n.
- gimmick n.
- go v.
- halo-halo n.
- high adj
- kikay n. & adj.
- KKB int.
- Kuya n.
- Mabuhay int.
- mani-pedi n.
- pan de sal n.
- pasalubong n.
- presidentiable n.
- pulutan n.
- salvage v.
- sari-sari store n.
- sinigang n.
- suki n.
- utang na loob n.
Many of those words are straight up tagalog words and not English in the slightest. Nor are they kind of words which are untranslatable and have no English equivalent like the German word "schadenfreude." Some of them are English words imbued with new Filipino meanings. Like "gimmick."
Philippine English. A night out with friends.
http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/78347
I am quite certain that word 21 should be "high-blood."
high blood n. and adj. (a) n. colloq. high blood pressure; hypertension; (b) adj.Philippine English angry, agitated.
Word 16, dirty, should also be "dirty kitchen."
The online OED does not illustrate the words so let me do the honour of showing you a dirty kitchen.
No roadside kitchen is a clean kitchen!
With 600,000 words and counting the OED is the definitive guide to the English language. With millions of OFWs Filipinos are the definitive scullery maids of the world. How long until Filipino English dominates the OED?
dirty kitchen n. Philippine English a kitchen where everyday cooking is done by household staff, as distinct from a kitchen that is purely for show or for special use by the owner of the house.
http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/53367Wow. So the kitchen where all the food is cooked is called a "dirty kitchen"!? Who has two kitchens in their house? Orthodox Jews do believe it or not. That is so they don't mix foods like milk and meat. But who in the Philippines has two kitchens? I have never seen such a set-up. Does this mean that all these houses with one kitchen have de facto dirty kitchens?
The online OED does not illustrate the words so let me do the honour of showing you a dirty kitchen.
No roadside kitchen is a clean kitchen!
With 600,000 words and counting the OED is the definitive guide to the English language. With millions of OFWs Filipinos are the definitive scullery maids of the world. How long until Filipino English dominates the OED?
Sorry for changing topic a bit. I don't live in the Philippines but in Canada. It really sucks because many western companies want to save money so they outsource their costumer and technical support in the Philippines. DEALING WITH THEM IS SUCH A FUCKING PAIN IN THE ASS!!!
ReplyDeleteWhen I have a problem X and need to call ebay or amazon or my internet provider or Logitech, HTC Vive, Samsung, Wacom etc etc etc etc, it's not necessary to call me "seeeeer" 2 or 3 times per sentence or trying to hide their chipmunk accent. Yes I know, bitching against their annoying accent is kind of intolerant and xenophobic. Maybe I am. These people get my nerves because THEY SUUUUUUUUUUUUCCCCCCCCCCCCKKKKKKKKKKKK!!!!!!!!!!!!
Every times I call a company about a problem that needs to be fixed and end up talking with a pinoy, it's almost always the same thing:
- He or she thinks that his/her job is only to be polite and cute on the line. They sound more ridiculous than polite.
- They try to get rid of the costumers by pretending it's not their department. ( few days ago I called the tech support of my internet company concerning problems of connection and the silly pinoy told me to call the billing department from Monday to Friday. He was stubborn like hell)
- They focus on saving the face instead of trying to solve problems.
-They don't know much about the products or the services the company is offering and end up putting you on Hold to ask the question to a colleague and get back to you with a total random answer.
- Make fake promises and even give false reference numbers (it happened to me a couple of times believe it or not)
- Lie shamelessly.
- Give fake information or false diagnostics and add more problems to your actual problem.
And this is only talking with ONE SINGLE Filipino on the phone or chat support. I don't want to know how is it to deal with MANY pinoys many times in a day. It must to be freaking painful man! You guys must to be extremely patient. Right now Filipinos are scrapping the reputation of many companies with their backward culture and mindset.