HOW TO SPOT A FILIPINO ACCORDING TO MY AMERICAN HUSBAND

Before I got married to my American darling, I asked him if he ever dated an Asian. He said he did briefly date a Chinese woman who was born and raised in New York. She was  not  only America-nized, but a natural born American. I asked  him also if he had been around with Filipinos before. He told me that there was no occasion or chance  he could remember.

Lately, I am blown by surprise when I discovered that  he could decipher a Filipino everywhere----in the mall, on the streets, and on TV. He said it's easy. I guess taking him to every Filipino gathering I know and sometimes being the only American made him observe us with all our idiosyncrasies.  According to him, the  only difficult part to discern Filipinos is when Filipino musical artists sing----he said he could hardly distinguish an accent. Well, just like British musicians, they sing with an indiscernible British twang. 

Although this topic is covered by  some bloggers, I was most inspired by this "How to Spot a Filipino" article in  a discussion forum.  But here on my post, I would only cover what my husband find awesomely amusing. With almost 6 years of marriage, and a year of dating, my husband is becoming really good in detecting a Filipino in more ways than I know.

Here is his list (I used "he" as a general pronoun. All underlined texts are links to my previous posts that discuss these topics wholly.)

1) When he says the word "already"  multiple times in one sentence ---example, " I already booked him already,sir for tomorrow, already." Already is only used when the action happens too soon before it should happen as in  "He already left (Because he should not leave yet at this time).

2) When he points with his lips instead of his hands or fingers.

3) When he/she looks Asian  with a Spanish last name.

4) When he says "wid" instead of "with" or "dat" instead of "that", "brader" instead of "brother,", "mader" instead of "mother," and so on.

I was guilty of such, but I successfully erased that habit of pronouncing the "th" as "d." 

5)When she (particularly a Filipino woman) is  terribly afraid of the sun.

6) When she  uses an umbrella when she's out in the sun.

7) When he constantly offers food to everyone.

8) When he eats with a spoon and a fork.

9) When he says he takes a bath when he means a shower.

10) When he says "Sige" frequently when he talks with his fellow countrymen.

11) When he says "she" for "he" or "he" for "she"  and so on. (Filipino pronouns do not convey any gender. Filipino pronouns are "unisex" such as Siya, or Kanya are not indicative of the person's sex.)

12) When he loves to sing karaoke (videoke).

13) When he wears a different pair of slippers for "inside" the house, and a different pair of slippers  for "outside" the house.

14) When he brings lunch to work or school consisting of rice and another dish all placed  in one container.

15) When he calls everybody Tito or Tita to people who are unrelated to him.

16) When his car has either a rosary hanging overt the windshield or a sticker of  a Philippine flag .

17) When he says "I don't like you" when he's mad at you or upset at something you did.

18) When his middle name is his mother's maiden name.

19) When he writes each and every name from his birth certificate on every written form or document.

20)When he just smiles when you greet him with "Hi, how are you ?"

Have you spotted a Filipino today?

A smiling Filipino boy . Photo courtesy of my good friend, Jojie Alcantara.

Comments

[Chey]

Bingkee, hi!
I'm guilty with numbers 5, 6, 10, 13, 15, 17, 18 and 19.

[M]

My Pinoy coworker just showed his Filipino today. He said, "I'm not pipty-pive! I'm only pipty!" P's for F's.

[Clarisse]

Here in Cali, it's easy to spot a pinoy in the mall. Say "pssst" out loud and all the pinoys will turn their heads. I do! (turn my head, I mean)...LOL

[Bill]

I like this one Bingkee. I told some of them to Gina my wife and she started laughing very hard LOL.

[Karen]

lmao!! this is hilarious! i totally can relate to this.

[JVO]

My husband can also spot the typical "kabayan" from afar and he always get it right (he says it with an accent and asked him where he got the word kabayan - oh well, that will be next bedtime story).
- typical outfit or "uniform: long shorts, flippies, ballcap facing backways, oversized singlet ideally from a US based basketball team and not to forget the dark shades.
- dragging the shoes while walking

[JuneZach]

Hi Bingkee!
I like this post. I made comments to some of your points.

1) When he says the word "already" multiple times in one sentence ---example, " I already booked him already,sir for tomorrow, already." Already is only used when the action happens too soon before it should happen as in "He already left (Because he should not leave yet at this time).

--- This is a very common error probably because Filipinos were not well thought of how to use the English language and observe correct grammar usage.

2) When he points with his lips instead of his hands or fingers.

--- This is such a lame habit of most Filipinos. Hahaha!

3) When he/she looks Asian with a Spanish last name.

--- Of course, the Philippines was under the Spanish colony for 377 years.

4) When he says "wid" instead of "with" or "dat" instead of "that", "brader" instead of "brother,", "mader" instead of "mother," and so on.

--- Most Filipinos fail to pronounce "th" and mispronounce it with "d". I always make sure THat I never speak THe words "Wid" and "dat". I always spell THe letters "th" even when sending a text message. Hehehe! ;D

5)When she (particularly a Filipino woman) is terribly afraid of the sun.
6) When she uses an umbrella when she's out in the sun.

--- Hehehe! Some Filipino women are so desperate to brighten their complexion.

7) When he constantly offers food to everyone.

--- Filipinos are kind and hospitable. :)

8) When eats with a spoon and a fork.

--- Really? As far as I have observed and known, Filipinos love to eat with their bare hands. "Mas masarap kasi pagnagkakamay lang."

9) When he says he takes a bath when he means a shower.

--- This is true due to the fact that not all Filipino families have a "shower" in their homes. Hehehe!

12) When he loves to sing karaoke (videoke).

-- Filipinos are naturally born musicians and singers. :D

13) When he wears a different pair of slippers for inside the house, and a different pair of slippers outside the house.

--- Yeah. I wonder why! ;)

14) When he brings lunch to work or school consisting of rice and another dish all placed in one container.

--- You ought to remember how your parents pack your "baon" for lunch. Hehehe!

15) When he calls everybody Tito or Tita to people who are unrelated to him.

--- Filipinos are indeed respectful. :D

16) When his car has either a rosary hung around or a sticker of a Philippine flag .

--- Filipinos are very religious and nationalistic. This has something to do with Spanish influence.

***
Your post is truly interesting. There are some things we need to change and improve as Filipinos like the bad habits and incorrect ways of doing things. But, there are some others as well that we need to keep such as our good values which other nationalities do not have at all.
No matter what I am still proud that I AM A FILIPINO!

[BK]

I definitely cannot spot a Filipino in most of the ways which your husband describe. The usual way in which I can spot a Filipino is when they start to speak in Tagalog. But I do observe the one on carrying of umbrella. :)

[nettagyrl]

=D An interesting post.

I've a surprise for you on my blog: http://zestynachos.blogspot.com/2009/10/wow-two-more-blog-awards.html

[Mel Avila Alarilla]

Yes, the observations of you husband are very accurate. It will be easy to spot Filipinos because they always congregate whenever they see each other. Filipinos become warm and affectionate when they are living in another land although they may appear detached when in their native land. You can also spot a Filipino residence. You can see the familiar clothesline in the yard and before meals, you can almost always smell the pungent aroma of dried fish (tuyo). This last peculiarity has landed some Filipinos in trouble with their neighbors. Oh well , which nationality does not have its own idiosyncrasies? Thanks for the post. God bless you always.

[rachy]

great post!

but i must say that #7 and #15 apply to a lot of peruvians, too (only that they use tio and tia). and #18 applies to some peruvian-americans, too. i guess that because spanish cultural influence exists in both filipino and peruvian culture.

[chubskulit]

Nyahahaha natatawa ako kasi ganyan ganyan si hubster, minsan nga di ko napapansin na may pinoy and he is the one saying, "you should say hi to the filipina over there" hahaha...

By the way, I am trying to generate some support for our daughter. We entered her into a Smile Contest, so if you could please vote for her (just once), the contest runs until October 31st. Your vote would be so much appreciated.

To cast your vote, please go to this link. Please look for Jillian Rylie Cottrill.

Thank you very much for your help!

[I Love-Hate America by Bing]

Hi Chubs---I had voted for your cutie baby. I hope she wins.

[Mikes Sumondong]

Hahahaha. This is just so true.. hay Pinoy talaga!

Well I AM A FILIPINO!

[Crochet]

It gets me how some people do that he for she thing. I really just don't understand it. I know people who CONSISTENTLY do that!!! They'll be taking about a girl and say "he." I don't get it!!!

[I Love-Hate America by Bing]

CROCHET ----Don't be so worked up with a very tiny and trivial mistake. Filipinos do that because as I've said in my post, our pronouns do not specify gender. When Filipinos speak English, normally, their cognitive framework is Filipino, so when a Filipino translates the word "Siya" or "Kanya" ----these are usually mistakenly translated to "He " instead of "She" or vice versa. "Siya" refers to "He" or "She" and Siya does not convey any sex or gender. And that is why when Filipinos speak English while thinking in Filipino, then the confusion can happen.
Please do not stress out yourself with such a trivial mistake.

[cecile]

i agree, this person probably didn't read your whole post; if he/she did, then he/she should never write her/his comment here. interesting post :-) I am a Pinay, too!

[Ed C]

One time, I was asked if I wanted to go to "the bitch" for a swim

[Rerto Jordans]

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[edward]

All of them are true except with she and he pronouns. If the Filipino interchanged these two words it means she or he is not educated because it is a basic in grammar that even in elementary it is taught.

[nightblastz]

Cool post...

[I Love-Hate America by Bing]

EDWARD---That's not true. I'm a graduate from the University of the Philippines and I am also guilty of interchanging those pronouns. I don't think you are fair enough to judge Filipinos like that.
The pronoun for "he" and "she" in Filipino is "Siya. " and because English is the 2nd or 3rd language, the cognitive frame of reference is the native language---so Filipinos speak in a way translating the word "siya" which is a non-sexist/unisex pronoun that is being interchanged for "siya."

Filipinos, if uneducated, will probably never speak English at all. So if he is able to use the word "he or she"---that person is educated.

[edward]

Hello,
I didn't mean uneducated as no read and write but somewhat who studied even in college but never give importance to grammar. I have many friends too like that and I correct them even if I myself is not good in English. English and even Spanish language has grammar gender. Thanks for the explanation and I am happy that you promote our Filipino culture.

By the way the color of the child's eyes is somewhat blue lol. I like the innocent look of the children especially when I am in the Philippines, I was once like them when I was a child in our village in the Cagayan de Oro City. Good for this blog and more power.

[Akino]

Nice post! For a Filipino who also speak his native dialect will have a hard time pronouncing English, such as “th” sound mentioned. But correct practice makes perfect diba.

[Jah]

I must admit that all 20 items are accurate. Our english accent is funny and our tv networks are making it even worse by not taking care of their newscasters' accents. Young generations think what they hear on tv is the right way to speak english. But inspite of that, I guess among Asians, we're the best at spoken english.