Philippine-English Slang

Philippine-English Slang

Compiled below are a number of English terms that are unique to the Philippines. The list is somewhat out of date, but you will still here most of them in your day to day conversations around the islands.

Aircon — An air conditioner.

AFP — Armed Forces of the Philippines.

ARRM — Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.

Accomplish — To complete a form - all government forms specify they are to be "accomplished".

Aggrupation — A political group. From the Spanish word agrupación.[13]

Ala — Filipinos prefer to spell "a la," or more correctly "à la," as one word.

Already — Filipinos use this word to state that they have finished doing something, even though it was completed past the original deadline. In standard English, by contrast, "already" is used only when something was completed ahead of schedule.

Apartelle — A budget hotel. From apartment + hotel + le. Other terms used are "apartel," "apartment hotel," and "condotel."

Apartment — In the Philippines, this is the word used to refer exclusively to a unit in a building that is being rented out for residential purposes. It is also used to refer to the entire building containing those for-rent units.

Armalite — The US M16A1 rifle, regardless of whether it is made by Colt, Hyrda Matic, or locally by Elisco/Armalite (part of the Elizalde conglomorate which was licensed by Colt to make the rifle for the Philippine Government. Later in 1983, it purchased the real ArmaLite Inc.). Despite the introduction of the M16A2, it is still widely used in the Philippine Military and Police.[14]

Artist — A movie/television actor/actress. From Spanish artista.

Baby Armalite — The short barrel version of the M16A1 known as the CAR-15 and similar to the current M4 carbine. First made by Elisco under Colt license in the late 1970's and locally, by Colt, Hyrda Matic, or locally by Elisco/Armalite (part of the Elizalde conglomorate which was licensed by Colt to make the rifle for the Philippine Government. It is used in the Philippine Government Military and Police.[15]

Ball pen — A ballpoint pen.

Banana cue — Sabá (cooking banana, similar to plantain), rolled in brown sugar then deep fried and skewered. The hot oil caramelizes the sugar giving the banana cue a crunchy quality. Name thought to have come about because the bananas thus prepared were served skewered, in a manner similar to Pinoy Barbecue.[16]

Bargirl — A hostess, dancer, or prostitute in a strip club or a Philippines "cabaret.

Barbecue — Grilled meat, but not in the American sense: the Philippine barbecue is meat cut into pieces (usually the fat is included for pork barbecues) and skewered, in a manner commonly called kebab cookery outside of the Filipino community.

Bedspace — The use of a bed at private home, rent for which is paid by a lodger or boarder known as a "bedspacer."[17]

Biodata — Similar but inferior to a résumé; a form that lists a person's accomplishments.

Biscuit — A loan word from British English, known in Tagalog as a Biskotso, which is an American cookie.

Blow — To vomit.

Blowout — To Filipinos, this means to throw a party, versus in American English, it's when your car has a flat tire.

Blue seal — An imported version of a locally produced cigarette, usually untaxed. From the blue seal labels found in cigarettes for export or tax free use. Usually of higher quality than the locally produced equivalent.[17]

Bold — Nude. Maybe because movies showing nudity were considered bold, as in daring. Possibly from the 1960s when conservatism in society was only beginning to break down. A movie with nude scenes is known as a Bold movie. In the 1970s, the term for such movies was "bomba film," whereas in the 1980s it was "S.T. (sex trip) movie." These were also called T.F. (titillating films).

Boodle fight — A gathering where food (usually pansít, or steamed rice and sardines) is served on old newspapers or banana leaves spread over a table and eaten with bare hands by a group of people. Although it is the practice for some Filipinos to eat with their hands, a group of people eating this way from one source is an unnatural and contrived practice in Philippine culture. This way of eating was devised by PMA cadets, and does not represent authentic Philippine culture, but instead symbolizes fraternity and equality among PMA members by their sharing the same food without regard to rank. The term is taken from pre-World War Two West Point slang meaning "any party at which boodle (candy, cake, ice cream, etc.) is served."[18]

Boom-boom — A vulgar expression for sexual intercourse.

Boston — A type of metal or rubber pad placed in the heel and/or front of the sole of a shoe for antislip purposes.

Boundary — An amount public transport drivers pay their operators daily; any excess belongs to the driver as his daily wage.

Boy — An affectionate nickname, used for certain men, to describe their boyish facial features, combined with a second word which describes their occupation, hobby, or body type, such as, "Boy Balut," for his passion of eating aged duck embryos.

Bring home — A noun-phrase mostly encountered in the Visayas, this is used in reference to food at fiestas or other social gatherings packed by the host for guests to "take home". It is often shortened to the acronym 'BH'.

Bull ring — A class ring about the size of a standard American men's class ring, worn by some members of the military, police, fire service, Bureau of Corrections, coast guard and merchant marine. The term "bull" refers to the ring's large size in comparison with Philippine class rings of civilian colleges, which are smaller. A "super bull ring" is a large class ring comparable in size to those of American institutions such as The Citadel, Norwich University, and VMI.

By and by — Later.[17]

CPP — Communist Party of the Philippines.

Cabaret — (pronounced /KA ba ret/) A strip club.

Cabinet (furniture) — This refers to "closet."

Cadette — A female cadet. From French. The Philippine pronunciation is derived from West Point slang. "cdtte" is the usual abbreviation of this term.

Calling card — Refers to a business card. A call card, on the other hand, is a phone card.

Camote cue — It is similar with Bananacue, but using sweet potato.

Canteen — A loan word from British English, normally used for cafeteria. Canteen in American English is a water container.

Car park — A loan word from British English, which is a garage parking or a parking lot.

Cargo train — A loan word from British English, which is a freight train.

Carnapper — A car thief.[19] Motor vehicle theft (carjacking) is known as Carnapping.[19]

Cent — A centavo. "¢" the symbol for "cent" is also used as a symbol for "centavo." Formerly, "ctvs" was commonly used as the abbreviation for "centavo." "ctvs" appears to be a combination of "ctvo" the correct English abbreviation for "centavo(s)" and cs the correct Spanish abbreviation of "centavos." Cénts is a Spanish abbreviation for céntimos and "centavos."

Certain — Used to emphasize (what?) or to denote (what?)(specify???), as in e.g., "The desk officer of the UP police, a certain Corporal Kalibo, told the Inquirer ...", or "What we're really pushing for is diversification, maybe have a certain bucket in fixed income, a certain basket in equity-based funds and then a certain portion in the peso and dollar funds," (emphasis added). The word is used more in Philippine English than in other dialectal forms.[20]

Chancing — To make a sexual advance. To "cop a feel." Mostly used by Filipinos of the Silent Generation and the Baby Boom Generation, this refers to advances by either gender that "take a chance" toward some form of suggestive bodily contact.[17]

Chicken — Something which is easy or easily accomplished. The final exam was chicken "The final exam was easy." This is derived from the expression "chicken feed."

Chit — A restaurant bill or a card.

Chocolate man or crocodile — Refers mostly to policemen in charge of traffic in Manila. Also refers to some politicians. From the formerly khaki uniform in use by the police (Nowadays Philippine police uses a blue uniform).

Coast guardian — A coast guard (US) or coastguardsman (UK).

Colgate — Refers to toothpaste. It is a genericized trademark.

Combo — Can refer to a musical band in addition to standard meanings.

Comfort room — The Filipino term for bathroom/restroom. Usually abbreviated as "C.R."[17]

Commuter — One who takes public transport, as opposed to motorists ("drivers").

Cong. — An abbreviation for congressman. This abbreviation is normally used for the terms "congress" and "congressional."

Cotton bud — A loan word from British English, which is a cotton swab.

Coupon bond — Bond paper, with the coupon diverging in meaning from accepted uses of the word, e.g. "a stub". The word coupon is also used with that meaning in Philippine English. Coupon bond is pronounced /ko'pon bo'nd/, possibly due to the ambivalence of Philippine languages with the vowels o and u, as happens in most loanwords/co-optations in Tagalog.

Course — While Philippine English is mainly modeled after American English, some British words, phrases or usage have found their way into it, as with the word "course" which means the same way it's understood in the UK and Australia as the entire program of studies required to complete a degree. Americans use the word "academic major" for the entire program, and use "course" to mean a unit of teaching for which academic credit is given.

DOM — A dirty old man.

Dine-in — "Eat in," "for here" (vs. Take-out). This is commonly used by fast food attendants who have to ask whether a customer's order is a take-out or a "dine-in" one (i.e. eat within the establishment). "Dining in" means something else in the United States.

Dirty kitchen — In a private home, a separate kitchen intended for the household help.

Dollar-speaking — Usually someone who speaks in English in public. Also "Spokening Dollar"

Dormmate — Someone who stays in the same dormitory.[17] A Dormer is a dormitory resident.

Double deck — A bunk bed.

Drive-in — Refers to motels, rather than outdoor theaters.

Duster — A sun dress. "Although she is wealthy, she wore a duster to the market so she would not be overcharged." The horsemen and cowboys, in the American Old West, wore linen dusters to protect their underclothing from dusty, dirty trails and roads. Also, a cleaning instrument (a duster in other parts of the world) is known as a feather duster.

EDSA — Refers to Epifanio de los Santos Avenue, formerly known as Highway 54, is the main circumferential road and highway of Metro Manila in the Philippines. EDSA, can also, refer to three major events that led to popular political upheavals, known as the EDSA Revolution, which led to the rise of People Power and the overthrow of Philippine President, Ferdinand Marcos in 1986.

Eat-all-you-can — All-you-can-eat.

Eisenhower jeep — An M38A1 jeep.

English — An English-speaking, white American.

Entertain — A word you will mostly hear, from a worker, when in a government office or a business building such as "how can I entertain you" or if they claim to be busy they will than reply "I cannot entertain you at this time." The true English word which is really be thought of is "assist."

Estafa — Used in English-based Philippine law for the crime of fraud or embezzlement or small-scale economic cheating activity. From Spanish "con art".

Ex. — The abbreviation of the phrase "for example.", supplementary to E.g. This is used only in writing, and is read as "Example...".

Feeling... — A term most commonly used by youths to call someone who one thinks is trying to act or be something they're not. Usually preceded by a noun or adjective, for example "feeling close" (or "F.C."), someone who acts like they're close to another when the other person hardly knows them or doesn't know them at all.

Filipino time — The habit of Filipinos not being on time.

Fill-up — To fill out a paper or document, e.g. Please fill-up this form. From British English.

Fiscal — The title/position equivalent to public prosecutor.

Fiscalize — To serve as a check and balance; commonly used by politicians.[17]

Five-six — Borrowing or lending money with 20% interest.[17]

For a while — Used on the telephone to mean "please wait" or "hold on." A literal translation of Tagalog Sandalî lang (correctly: "Just a moment").

FX taxi — A type of share taxi. Share taxis in the Philippines are usually Toyota Tamaraw FX, an Asian Utiliy Vehicle (AUV) based on the Toyota Kijang sold in Indonesia.

Gay — Refers to effeminate homosexual men only as opposed to homosexuals in general. It also refers to male-to-female transgenders (e.g. transsexuals and cross-dressers). Based on the use of the Filipino word bakla. (See LGBT culture in the Philippines.)

Get down / go down (a vehicle) — "Get off." Derived from Tagalog context (Bumabâ ka, literally meaning "(you) get down").

Gets? — "(Do you) understand?" Slang from "Do you get it?". The usual reply is Ah, gets. ("Ah, (I) understand.")

Gimmick — A planned or unplanned night out with friends. Also, any offering during evening hours by clubs, bars and restaurants to lure customers in.

Go ahead — Leave in advance ("I'll go ahead" means "I will leave now, earlier than you guys"). "I'll go ahead " is a literal translation of Tagalog Mauna na akó, which means "I'll leave you now" more than "I'll go before you now".

Green jokes — Dirty jokes (subsequently, to be "green-minded" is to have a dirty mind, e.g. always giving sexual connotations to everything). Loan translation from Spanish "chistes verdes." By contrast, it's interesting that in standard usage the term "blue" means "obscene" or "pornographic" and is used in terms such as: "blue jokes"; "blue films"; "blue movies"; and "blue stories."