Happy Wednesday and welcome to the first installation of the three-part series called: That’s So Filipino! In this first part of the series, we’ll talk about several day-to-day things that we use, say, and/or do here in America, that are actually Filipino.
Betcha didn’t know…
...the word ‘boondock’ known as ‘a rural area’ in English, was adopted from the Tagalog word ‘bundok’ (translated as ‘mountain’).
...the butterfly knife, aka the fan knife or Batangas knife, or ‘balisong’ in Tagalog, was first made in Batangas, Philippines.
...the word ‘cooties’, yes, the word that just gave me goosebumps, is adopted from the Filipino word for head lice, or ‘kuto’.
...whenever you hear Carrie Bradshaw talk about wishing she had as many pairs of shoes as Imelda Marcos, she’s actually talking about the former Philippine First Lady’s shoe collection. Mrs. Marcos was claimed to have owned over a thousand pairs of shoes. I’ve actually been lucky enough to see a part of her collection in a museum in Manila, and boy was I amazed!
...that although the karaoke machine was invented by the Japanese, a Filipino named Roberto Del Rosario was the first to patent and build the Karaoke Sing-Along System. It’s probably why it is now the Philippines’ favorite past time, and why Filipinos are also darn good singers.
...the phrase ‘Mani-Pedi’, the combination beauty regimen of a manicure and pedicure, originated in the Philippines.
...that time in P.E. class when you had to learn to step between two large poles without getting your feet caught, is actually a Filipino folk dance called tinikling. It originated from the Spanish colonial times.
...the yoyo is an ilocano word for ‘a toy’. It’s claimed that although the yoyo was invented in ancient Greece, the modern yoyo as we know it, was developed by a Filipino immigrant to the United States.
Congratulations! You are now an even better trivia partner than you were before you read this! It’s Wednesday! I’m sure there’s a trivia night somewhere near you. Enjoy your new found knowledge!