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Pinoy-speak 101! Guess what the top 10 popular Filipino expressions in the UAE are

DUBAI: They say you can tell the difference between a Filipino who lives in Dubai and one who stays in Abu Dhabi by his or her favorite expression.

A case of “sakto lang,” (Just fine) and “hindi siguro,” (I don’t think so).

Ask a Pinoy in Abu Dhabi about how life has been and the response would most probably be: “Sakto lang.”

In fact, “sakto lang” has seemingly been a favorite remark that it has become standard reply for anything from “How is the food?” to “Are you okay?” “Do you have money?” “How’s your love life?” “Do you like it?” “Are you stressed?” “How was your visa run?”

“Sakto lang.” “Sakto lang.” “Sakto lang.”

It’s called “matik,” another Filipino expression to mean “automatic,” connoting that the reply was made with the person not taking an extra walk to explain in details what’s in mind; a habit of resorting to pre-formatted answers for sheer lack of interest in the subject or for having just plain gotten the knack of life’s petty quarrels in the daily grind of it. “Next question, please.”

Sakto lang’s mother phrase in the Philippines is “okay lang,” which is more preferred by Pinoys in Dubai.

‘Hindi siguro’

On the other hand, overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in Dubai rarely use “sakto lang,” and only because they picked it up during their stay in Abu Dhabi or have friends there.

Dubai Pinoys are more wont to say, “hindi siguro.”

“Papasyal kami sa MOE, sama ka?” (We’re having a stroll at MOE. Are you coming?”)

“Hindi siguro.”

“May pagtatangi sa ‘yo si Ben. Gusto mo ba sya?” (Ben likes you. Do you like him?”)

“Hindi siguro.”

“Madadagdagan ka na raw ng sweldo.”

“Hindi siguro, promise!”

Expressions

But, despite the differences in the way they remark at things, and dissimilarities in physical and facial features, having been born and raised in the “Melting Pot of the Orient,” OFWs in the UAE – and all across the world – share exclamations that make them all too Filipinos.

Here are the top 10.

10. “Hataw!”

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In English, the word connotes being whiplashed, flogged even. How that morphed into something to mean giving it your 101% is a long jump.

But yes, “hataw” is when one exerts all efforts “para sa ekonomiya.” This could also mean putting one’s best foot forward. And so, you say, “Hataw kami sa overtime” (We had a lot of overtime) or “Hataw sya sa porma!” (He’s looking sharp.) In other words, the superlatives: “Hataw sa ganda.” (Very beautiful).

“How do I look?”

“Hataw ka, kuya!” (You look great, brother!)

9. “Para sa ekonomiya.”

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Transliterated, this means, “for the economy.” It traces its etymology to the phrase “para sa bayan,” or for the country. This phrase is more popular among OFWs who utter so as a way of putting an ironic smile to their toil – a sweet surrender of sort to the thought that life back home will never get better despite their sacrifices abroad.

8. “Anyare?”

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This one’s so popular in Dubai that even non-Filipinos have caught up with it. A Pinoy asks “anyare?” to express disappointment albeit in a lighthearted way. It actually means “What happened?” and is often exclaimed in situations of failure or happenchance. Pretty similar to the Arabs’ “shoo hada?”

And so, one could hear this on the metro from a mom on the phone with her son back home who’ve failed his college finals, or a lady to her boyfriend who’ve just had a haircut, or even to calm the nerves of someone having a bad day, like so bad she looked ugly beyond recognition…the list goes on.

7. “Blaha na si Batman!”

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They say language breathes and evolves through time. A good example would be this one – which traces its roots to the Filipino word “Bathala,” which means God and had morphed into the phrase, “Bahala na si Bathala,” which means to surrender one’s fate to God, which then again transformed into “Bahala na” to mean “come what may.” How Batman got into the picture is another thing – a whiff of humor, if you will, to take things in a light way as how Filipinos do it during times of resignation.

So, perfect examples would be:

“Naku, buntis ka! Paano na yan?!?” (Oh no, you’re pregnant! What now?)

“Blaha na si Batman!”

6. “Naku!”

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Sometimes exclaimed with a prolonged first syllable and an ‘oh’ in the second: Naaaaa-koh! This expression, usually said with palm in face, easily means “oh no,” even “oh my God,” when said this way: “naku po, Diyos ko!”

“Naku” is a shortened form of “anak ko,” which means “my child,” or “oh, my child,” that parents usually blurt out whenever their children did something wrong like broke the flower vase or burned the house down, if you will; or ran into a mishap like roll down the stairs in their strollers. It connotes emotional distress at varying levels depending on the issue at hand; and comes with corresponding facial distortions – from grimacing to crying.

And so, “naku” is your typical Filipino daily grind utterance.

“Naku, wala akong pera!” (Oh no, I don’t have money!)

5. “Last mo na yan ha!”

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This is often heard during light moments when one throws a joke or a punch line that nobody found funny or amusing. “That will be your last (joke).”

4. Eneveyen!

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Pronounced as spelled, this was derived from the phrase “ano ba yan?” which is usually uttered when a bit dumbfounded, even aghast or taken aback by something unexpected; also, to express annoyance or disgust. Transliterated, this means “what is that (or this)?” But the phrase could also mean “what’s going on?”

“Eneveyen! Kanina pa tayo naka-upo, wala pa rin yung food natin.” (What is this? We’ve been sitting here for long yet our food is still out of sight.)

3. “Wow! Ang labo mo!”

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This phrase is probably among the few ones that have stood the test of time in Filipino pop culture as it dates back to 70s Manila. It is usually addressed to someone whose drift is so hard to catch, an erratic person who breaks a promise, or agreement; or stood everybody up in a meeting – a pasaway, a Filipino neo-slang word for someone who counterflows and makes life a tad more stressful.

2. “Huwag kang pasaway!”

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In English, this phrase means, “don’t be difficult (or a pain in the neck). Pasaway used to refer to toddlers who’d insist on doing what they want despite their parents, siblings or nannies relentlessly holding them back.

But the pasaway has now grown up and remains to be a “pebble in a shoe,” as the great boxer Muhammad Ali once said in his famous quote: “It isn’t the mountains ahead to climb that wear you out, it’s the pebble in your shoe.”

Nobody loves a pasaway so don’t be one.

1. Hugot!

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The viral, trending Pinoy expression, hugot (who-goat), means to pull something out – in this case, from one’s chest to insinuate, imply or nuance a grievance or certain emotional affliction.

Hashtag Hugot, some say, was born from a 2014 Pinoy romantic comedy, “That Thing Called Tadhana (fate).”

And so, we have satirical “hugot lines” everywhere like: “Buti pa ang manok, maraming puso, yung ibang tao dyan wala” from one staring at a tray of chicken hearts by a supermarket rack. (It’s nice to know that chickens can have many hearts (a stab at humor), unlike some people who don’t even have one (the “hugot line.”)

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