The alternate meanings of innocent words
So the whole news world was up in arms recently because of this newscast referring to Barack and Michelle Obama “fisting” each other in the White House, the speaker blissfully unaware of the unsettling slang definition of the term. And while we can all laugh at that lady and her obliviousness, the truth is there are all sorts of everyday words that, in the right crowd, will draw the same muffled laughter as the fisting gaffe up there. Such as…
6 Everyday Words With Disturbing Alternate Meanings
We would add:
1. Bati. Tagalog for “greet”, “reconcile after a quarrel”, “beat eggs with a whisk”. And “masturbate”. My druid: “When people have an argument, I never say, Magbati na kayo.”
2. Top. Gay men, explain to the heteros.
3. Bottom. See #2.
4. Bayo. Tagalog for “grind with a pestle”. Also a popular clothing brand. And Tagalog for “masturbate”.
5. Remember that ad, “Chupa Chups: the pleasure of sucking”?
Answers to questions you might be asking, unless you wandered onto this site purely by accident >>>
March 9th, 2012 at 15:59
Mine is MILF, as in the Moro extremists. Everytime I see a headline like “MILF attacks Lanao”, my brain runs an image of Salma Hayek carrying a machine gun.
March 9th, 2012 at 18:15
Interesting and funny. There are slight pronunciation differences though under #1:
Batì (bigkás: malumi; tuldík: paiwâ) – Greet.
Magbatî (bigkás: maragsâ; tuldík: pakupyâ) – To reconcile after a quarrel.
Baté (bigkás: mabilís; tuldík: pahilís) – Beat eggs with a whisk.
Magbaté (bigkás: mabilís; tuldík: pahilís) – To beat eggs; to masturbate.
But obviously, less punctilious or non-native speakers might not be able to make these distinctions. So after a quarrel, better just tell people, “Magkasundò na kayó.”