Blah Since I Know: Bisaya Edition!

I'm one proud Bisaya! It's a Philippine vernacular but has more speakers compared to the Tagalogs, reaching the Mindanao and Visayas islands. Another note-worthy thing is the never-ending debate as to which is the real national language (but it’s never a good idea to poke either group with a stick haha). But I'm not going to blog about Bisaya pride today though. In fact, I'll try to teach the correct use of certain words and expressions we use. The idea started with this article which does not truly define the right way to use some of the words. I want to try my hand at writing a similar post.

First, let me introduce our bad bad words. I have to because we're talking about expressions right? Swear words would always be present when it comes to that topic regardless of language. Here are the Top Four:

Yawa- The Devil. Literally. So using this as an expression when you feel frustrated or you fell down the stairs is automatically regarded as bad word, after all, you are calling the Devil's name. But apart from swearing it could also be used in normal sentences.
Yati- Honestly, I have no idea what this means, but it is also regarded as a swear word, only a tier below Yawa.
Atay- There's this theory that this word derived from a chicken disease that weakens the liver. So if you say "Gi-atay ka!" well, it's more of a curse than anything.
Peste- Self explanatory.

Now let us continue with other Bisaya words:

1. Tsada/Nindot- Both words mean the same thing, which is "nice" but their differences comes in the geographic region they're being used. "Nindot" is a word from Cebu and it is widely accepted that Cebuanos are the ones who use this term more than any other Bisaya. "Tsada" on the other hand is generally accepted as a Cagayan de Oro term, hence our tourism motto.

  2. Gilanlan- This is the Bisayan for the Tagalog word "pinapapak". I highly doubt that there's an English equivalent for this one. This is the act of directly eating salt, sugar, ketchup, soy sauce, powdered milk, peanut butter, nutella, etc. It could also mean munching on a meal minus the rice.

  3. Gayud- This adverb which means"very" is another common source of confusion. These days the word "gayud" is commonly shortened to "jud" so best remember that both are the same.

  4. Langgam- In Tagalog/Filipino,"langgam" means "ant" while in Bisaya it means "bird".

  5. Maglibang- In Filipino, libang means having entertainment or fun, or just being not bored. However in our side of the archipelago, libang means taking shit. So if you happen to hear someone say "Malibang sa ko" It means that he'll be going to the bathroom to dump some shit.

  6. Gugma- Here's the "love" translation at last! It's actually a BisDak, or Bisayang Dako. Gugma is part of those deep, ancient words that only the old guys seems to know about, thus those who actually use this word are either in complete utter seriousness or just poking fun at the word itself.

  7. Lugar Lang- This is what you call out to signal the taxi or jeepney driver to stop if you're in a Bisaya region. If Tagalog people say "Para", "Lugar lang" is more of a longer statement like "I-lugar lang" which is simply "Please place the vehicle somewhere at the side of the road since I'll be getting off now"

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One last note for the Manila people, YES I'm talking to you, most especially the people from the national TV channels and media personalities

Can you please, please, refrain from pronouncing Butuan as "Butu-An"?
First, because it's wrong. The correct way to say it is "But-Wan" and second, it sounds perverted and ultimately hilarious to the rest of the Philippines. Do you even know what "butu" means? It's a fucking penis in Bisaya.

Yes darlings, you've been calling an innocent Mindanao city a Penis for more than a decade. Considering how this had been going on for years, any kind of justification for this kind of faggotry has long been pulverized.
OH WAIT, other regions have a different translation, but it gets better actually, their version of "butu" is the vagina.