Things Filipinos Say But Don't Really Mean and Other Ridicilous Pinoy Beliefs

1. Kain tayo (Let's eat.) - Pinoys invite you for a meal, but they don't really expect you to accept most of the time. It's all superficial. They just don't want to feel like jerks.

2. Salamat! Pero busog pa ‘ko. (Thank you, but I'm full) - The expected response to number one. Even if you're really hungry or dying of thirst, they still expect you to decline in the most gracious way possible.

3. Masakit ba? (Does it hurt?) - A Pinoy usually say this when he/she sees an injured person. He/she doesn't know what to say but doesn't want to feel insensitive, so he/she throws a rhetorical question instead.

4. Dropping of spoon/fork = A guest will arrive soon. If you dropped a spoon, the guest would be a man. If it was a fork, it would be a woman.

5. Tabi-tabi po. (I'm just passing through)- This is usually said when you're passing through the wilderness or dense vegetation. The reason for so is that dwarves, elves, and other fantasy creatures dwell upon those plants, mounds, rocks and nature in general. If you don't show them respect, they'll curse you.

There are a lot of other ridiculous Pinoy customs and beliefs, but these ones are at the top of my mind. So what are yours?

'Tao po (TAH-O POH)', and not 'tayo po (TAH-YOH POH).'

It means,
'Is there someone inside?'

Obviously a knock or a buzzer would alert the person inside the house. Shouting 'Tao po' is redundant. But I too am guilty of this.

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6. Don't sing while it's raining hard, especially if you're a horrid singer. It will just make the rain worse.

7. If you're a bachelor/single, don't sing while you're cooking. You'll stay single forever.

8. 'Kain, kain' (Eat, eat.) when you're in someone's house and already eating. Sometimes, the host wants you to stop eating as there's not much food left to go around or he/she is a prick. But they don't want to tell you directly because they feel they would lose face. This depends on how wealthy or generous the host is.

9. 'Bahala na sa iyo ang Diyos/ Godbless nalang (May God Have Mercy On You/ I'll Leave You to God's Judgement)' - when you have done something wrong in their eyes and they wish you get punish for it. But they're not man/brave enough to do something about it themselves. So they just leave it to 'God' and hope you just encounter bad karma (get into an accident). Karma exist in the Christian faith? A Hindu/Buddhist-inspired belief? Namaste! Namaste! |

10. Don't sleep with your hair still wet. You'll go blind!

I am a Pinoy, but I find a lot of beliefs like this ridiculous. I sometimes 'troll' or act in a audacious manner just to see how my fellows would react.

I like messing with carefully-constructed Pinoy sensibilities and norms.

1. 'TAO PO!?' (Is someone inside!?)

Great responses:

1. Walang tao dito! (There's no one inside.)
2. Bark like a dog.
3. Imitate a ghost (Awoooohh...)
4. Pulis ka ba? (Are you a cop?)
5. Holdaper! Holdaper! Saklolo! (It's a robber/kidnapper! Help!)

Yes that 'moo-moo', our version of the 'Boogeyman.' But I have always been told I was a weird/unconventional child.

When someone says 'moo-moo' to me, I would cluck like a chicken or make horse sounds as a response. 'Moo-moo' for me is a cow.

Oh and my favourite past time when I was a child was watching horror movies and reading horror comics. So it was very hard for people to scare me.

1. Don't sweep the floor at night, you'll be sweeping off the blessings.
2. Some gross traditions when a girl gets her first menstruation.
3. Brown buttterfly visiting the home means money will come, yellow someone you owed money from will come, black someone will die.
4. Breaking a glass is a bad premonition. It means death.
5. We should all get really loud and noisy during New Year's to drive away bad spirits, open the house so that blessings will come and kids be jumping to make sure they'll grow taller. I did that last one every year nothing happened. Like duuuuh

1. If you get circumcised, you'll grow taller.

2. Sun-showers (Raining while it's sunny) means that there are 'kapre (ogres)/tikbalangs (humanoid creature with horse head and human body)' getting married.

3. If you see a bald man, it's perfectly fine to touch his head or give it a slap ang say, 'Pendong Peace!' while doing the V-sign'. (Kidding. Do this only to your closest acquiantances. )

4. When arranging/positioning a painting against the wall, make sure that it's not perfectly symmetrical. The reason apprarently is the devil would hide inside if it's perfectly straight.

5. If someone says something ill towards a person but don't really mean it, he/she should knock on wood. Else, it might just happen.

6. If it's too humid and want some breeze, go and whistle. Apparently, it calls out the wind.

7. You should always leave at least a coin in your wallet. If it's empty down to the last cent, you won't have money ever again.

8. Eat pancit during your birthdays or joyous occasions. It promotes a long and healthy life. (Which is BS for me because I always eat Lucky Me Instant Pancit Canton. Or is that not counted? )

9. If you have a horrid voice, don't ever sing 'My Way' by Frank Sinatra in karaokes. You just might get stabbed or shot.

10. Don't leave a pregnant woman alone and unattended. Else a manananggal (this is a unique monster in Pinoy folklore. Google it if you're curious) might snatch up the baby from the mother's stomach, using her very long tongue.

Laughing while reading these. It's soo true!

Some of the absurd beliefs I have in mind are:

1. When a close family member dies, relatives must go through under the coffin without turning their heads back so that no one will be next to die
2. After the funeral, before entering the house of someone who died, everyone has to wash their hands with water and leaves (not sure what's the exact leaves, on our case it's guava leaves).
3 Don't cut/trim your nails at night. It's bad luck.
4. When a big butterfly of any colour is inside the house, someone from the dead is visiting you.
5. Don't talk back to the elders, you'll get bad karma.
6. If you question these beliefs, the common answer is "Wala naman mawawala kung sundin mo, diba?" (You got nothing to lose, if you follow these beliefs).

More to come. Happy reading.

I was at a funeral a week ago.
They started to bring the coffin out of the house so I tried to head off first an give more room. I stopped in my tracks at the gasps of surprise and was told to let the coffin go first because we would all walk underneath it for the reasons given.

When we were at the cemetary some lit a fire with the empty cement bags, twigs and grass and we had to walk over the fire in a certain way for something or other.

The positioning of the coffin was important too. The head of the person must go first so the journey will be pleasant.

Also the face of the person inside the coffin should be looking towards the rising sun,

Funerals are very interesting here.

Matanda ka na. Huwag ka nang umasa.

Ang sama ng ugali mo.

It was smoke in our case, everyone has to go near the smoke and say "Siging siging siging"-- a way of driving away bad spirits/ bad luck.

Especially the gambling, karaoke, and swapping off stories about the deceased.

I always rake in money when playing 'tong-hits. (Red Aces).'

Just wear high-heels and stop wearing skirts. People will think you're taller.

Five-inch heels will do the trick.

It's okay, you're pretty. You'll fit right in with the nenes and the dalagitas.

It's interesting just how global many of these beliefs are.

I always lose heavily
My wife told me to play that way.......and she's always right.
(that's what I always have her believe

My beloved best bro-in-law has never been know to lose at Tong-its at family gatherings. His presence at the table is almost a pre-requisite.
This is quite true, he always gives back everthing he won.

Maybe thats another strange superstition

Bumabawi..

It's called 'abuloy' or alms for the dead. The family of the recently deceased uses those money to pay for the funeral and other expenses.

So you are really expected to give something back. I always give half of what I earn.

We call those who who don't dish out alms as 'Sugapa or Tirador ng Kaning Lamig.' (Greedy Pigs/ Munchers of Leftover Rice - basically there is nothing that you won't do. You are the lowest of scums. A really heartless person.)

Aah...thanks...always wondered what the ex meant by that.