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The Little Prince By Antoine De Saint-Exupéry Is Now Available In Chabacano!

While Le Petit Prince (The Little Prince) written by Antoine De Saint-Exupéry in 1943 now has over 300 translations in different languages worldwide and is now considered the world’s most translated book (not counting religious works), there have been surprisingly only two translations of his book in the Philippines (Filipino and Bicol). El Diutay Principe is only the third edition featuring a Philippine language. The Little Prince is a classic French novella about a pilot who gets stranded in the desert after a plane crash and encounters a little fellow who asks him to draw a sheep for him. Through the course of their meeting, the pilot rediscovers the true meaning of life and what people should value the most. When I came across the book in 2013, I found that I could relate very well to the negative image given to “growing up” in the book. When the idea to translate the book into my mother tongue was presented to me, I didn’t think twice. I thought, ‘a lot of people my

How to say 'Spoiled Food' in Chabacano

In the Philippines, we have Misa De Gallo which is celebrated every nine nights before Christmas day. In Manila, it is very common to see food stands selling Bibingka and Puto Bumbong and they are very popular among churchgoers.

A few days ago, I bought a Bibingka and to my surprise, it was sour. I told my friend about how the Bibingka was probably already malo and he told me that when golosinas (Chabacano word for sweets) turn sour, it is a definite indication that it is already ranso (this probably comes from the Spanish rancio). In my family, we don't use the word ranso so this word was new to me although I immediately understood its meaning.


Anyway, all that inspired me to write about other ways we say 'spoiled food' in Chabacano.

I think the word that is used by the majority is malo to refer to spoiled food.

For example, malo ya el pan (the bread has gone stale).

I actually use this word almost all the time.

My dad likes to use the word manoseao (pronounced as 'manushaw'). This word probably comes from the Spanish manoseado.

I sometimes see the word pudrido being used on Facebook. This word comes from the Spanish podrido. I'm not sure if a lot of people use this word. In fact, I didn't find it in the Chabacano dictionary of Camins.

Then there are those who say panus (pronounced as pan-us). This probably comes from Hiligaynon.

While in Manila, I met a guy who used the word pasao. Honestly, that was the first time I ever heard the word pasao being used in this way. Pasao also means past in Chabacano.

By the way, here is what a Puto Bumbong looks like.

Source: http://www.vozzog.com/

They are served with grated coconut and brown sugar and are topped with cheese. They are wrapped in banana leaves.

And here is what a Bibingka looks like.

Source: http://thefilam.net/archives/12566

So what about you, which word do you frequently use? Please share it with me in the comments section below.

Comments

  1. Sometimes my father uses the word ranso here. In Portuguese language this word (written as "ranço") has the same meaning as in chabacano. Probably people there has lent this word from our language.

    Anyway, it's a nice article, che. It's another one which I learned today. :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. We use the following term: pasao, manusiao, pan-ûs. While the term ranso is seldom.
    Among them, the most frequently used is manusiao followed by pasao.

    Por ejemplo:
    No más ya comé ese porque pasao ya se comida.
    Manusiao ya man galè este comida de aton.
    No usá mano si ta sacá para jendêh manusía el comida.

    I never heard about the term 'malo' when referring to food even among us in the family.

    For bibingka and puto bumbong, jejeje we always say it as "poto bumbong, poto flan, poto" and bibingka as Bibinca. :-)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Pudrido is used in Chabacano de Cavite

    JPS

    ReplyDelete
  4. Rancio is also used in Cavite for rotten or stale.
    Pasado is usually used to describe something that is overcooked, as in morisqueta pasado (overcooked rice).

    JPS

    ReplyDelete
  5. En castellano usamos tambien podrido o pasado,con los significados que indica JPS.Por supuesto tambien rancio.Aqui en el dialecto del sur tambien se puede oir "cuenco",en el sentido de pasado o rancio y "Pudrio" o "podrio" en mal castellano.Un abrazo Joaquin

    ReplyDelete

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