10 English Words That Have Alternative Meanings in the Philippines

     Every language has its own special quirks. Take for example Tuyuca,  an indigenous language spoken by merely 1,000 people in Colombia and Northwestern Brazil. One noteworthy quirk of this language is that it has up to 140 genders! Talk about gender confusion. In the Philippines, we do have peculiar ways of messing up with our mother tongue and other languages such as, in this particular list, the English language. This is a must-read for those who want to vacation in the country and, please, make a special note of the last word because it could mean life or death for you. Serious.

10. Napkin

      In the Philippines, this word is associated with the feminine hygiene pad. So if you're in a restaurant, it is better to specifically request for a "table napkin" or a "tissue" from your waitress.

9. Double Deck
      A double deck is not a bus in the Philippines but a bunk bed.

8. High Blood
     This term must not necessarily be taken as a medical emergency when you're in the Philippines.  Filipinos use this both as an adjective and a verb, which could mean "super irritated or angry" or "going ballistic".

7. Racket
     This word refers to a sports implement or "ruckus" in English, but we Pinoys use it to refer to a "sideline" or a scheme/plan to earn extra income.

6. Bedspace
     Bedspace is defined as "a portion of a shared bed where one person sleeps" or "a space in which an individual bed is or is intended to be placed".  In the Philippines, it means a single room rented out to at least two people. A bedspacer usually occupies and/or shares a bunk bed for cheaper rent.

5. Adidas/Betamax/Helmet
     If your Filipino host tells you that he's going to buy you Adidas, it doesn't necessarily mean he's  buying you a new pair of kicks.  He'd probably take you down the street to treat you with a fave Filipino street food called "adidas" which is actually chicken feet BBQ. And usually alongside adidas are betamax (curdled and cubed chicken blood) and helmet (chicken head), both are also barbecued then dunk by customers in a soy sauce + vinegar dip. Palamig (coconut juice) is optional.

Pinoys' helmets offer no protection at all for your head.
(Image source: https://mygreatplates.files.wordpress.com/2013/08/exotic-street-food-chicken-head-helmet-ibaan-batangas-lutong-ibaan-taga-ibaan-ako-dennis-toreja-perez-1.jpg?w=470&h=313)

Adidas: These shoes are not fit for your feet.

(Image source: https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEY-s-lzTdwbsEiX4eJMYJRY3apUKOiLgaBV0gook02gpBSEffD4pTqWxHvsv18ZhD7tJVARKkBWEGdsx2XUisdz-6UhRPy9DRa28kmGdzBULIkPK8A4y-qWAzhiD3hv1YBA5wr363YnY/s1600/20027.jpg)

The blood-curdling Betamax: You beta watch out!
(Image source: http://www.toursnfoods.com/7-must-try-street-food-philippines)

4. Dirty Ice Cream
    Please, don't take this literally. This doesn't mean that you're licking on a really dirty ice cream when you try to cool down in the Philippines.  What you're actually eating is not the commercial ice cream that you get from the supermarkets or groceries but the homemade kind peddled by the sorbetero on the streets.

(Image source:  http://sundatess.blogspot.com/2013/07/eats-sorbetes-ice-cream.html)

3. Comfort Room (CR)
    When you're in the Philippines and you really, really need to use the toilet, just ask for the comfort room or (better yet) the CR. Do not use "bathroom" or "washroom" to avoid confusion and to prevent you from dumping something (yikes!) in inappropriate places.

2. Chancing
    Chance means "by accident", but in the Philippine context "chancing" means quite the opposite. It means one (usually a guy) has the intent to touch someone playfully or inappropriately. This could be a play on the phrase "grabbing the chance" to touch a girl. This term  (this is just my theory) could be a blend word for chance and dancing. Chancing became part of Pinoys' vocabulary around 1980's (maybe even earlier), a period when girls were considered to be more conservative and parents more strict and that the only chance a guy could touch his girl then would be during dances.

1. Salvage
    This word gets the most twisted twist in the Philippines. Salvage is defined as "to save or to rescue". Shockingly, in the Philippines, this word could mean to kill or murder. This term and its macabre meaning came into use during the Marcos regime referring to victims of summary executions (now called extrajudicial killings or EJKs). There are quite a few theories of how this word gained a gruesome meaning in the country. One theory says the term came from the pseudo-anglicism of the Spanish word "salvaje" which translates to "wild, feral, or barbaric". Another theory is that it came from the English word "savage", which aptly describes how the victims are killed as they are usually bound and tortured. Or it could have evolved from media reports, i.e. "the victim's body was salvaged from a river", as victims are sometimes dumped into rivers and roadsides. The phrase "salvage victim/s" is still widely used by mainstream media in the Philippines.