Tongpats

Posted by nina bumanglag on August 3, 2008 · Leave a Comment

Pinoys are so great with word play. We could invent a new word just by reversing or inserting certain syllables like ‘pa’ or ‘ga’ in between syllables. I loved doing the ‘pa’ and ‘ga’ game back in grade school. My mom would be horrified every time I said something like,

“Apalampam mopo bapa napa apakopo aypay hinpindipi papa kupumapakapainpin, Mapa?

You just have to take out the ‘pa-pe-pi-po-pu’ after every syllables and you have the exact translation. The ‘pa’ inserts depend on the vowel of the previous syllable so if you have ako, you say it as apakopo. The same goes for the ‘ga’ inserts only the ‘pa’ ones are easier to use.

We also make up new words by mere association. The infamous Jologs for Jolina’s Organization started when rumors about Jolen’s alleged transfer from UP to AMA was because of the former school’s lack of star treatment for her. Berks for barkada, as popularized by ABS-CBN’s teeny-bopper series with the same title, was originally used to refer to the brand Birkenstock: predecessor of Havaianas’s fame. Then we also have Granma which, when said nonchalantly sounds like grandma, actually refers to Grand Matador Brandy.

Read the rest here.

Filed under BLOG · Tagged with

Disclaimer: PinoyBlogoSphere.com(PBS) claims no credit for any content(posts, articles, texts, images, videos) featured on this site unless otherwise noted. All contents are copyright to their owners/sources. PBS is in no way responsible for or has control of the content of any external web site links. Information on this site may contain errors or inaccuracies; we do not make warranty as to the correctness or reliability of the site’s content. If you own rights to any of the content, and do not wish them to appear on this site, please contact us via e-mail and they will be removed.