Feeling ko lang. [feel ing´ ko lang´] My gut feel is… Or another of version of in my opinion...

Feel na feel. A way of saying you empathize, or you understand  that person, thing or situation. Can also be used to describe someone who does something with a lot of gusto: feel na feel siyang sumayaw (dance).The Spanish word for fair or carnival. A town fiesta is not complete without one.

Fiesta. [fee yes´ ta] Traditionally, each town celebrates the feast day of their Catholic patron saint by holding a town-wide party. Apparently introduced by the Spaniards as part of their Christianization efforts in the 16th century, a fiesta still ranks up there with Holy Week, All Saints-Souls’ days, and Christmas.

[El] Filibusterismo. [el´ fee lee boos´ te ris´mo] National hero Jose Rizal’s sequel to Noli Me Tangere. These were socio-political novels he wrote to condemn corrupt Spanish practices. They are masterpieces that should be read by every

Filipino. Best seller in various languages, English of course included.

Filipinas. [fee lee pee´nas] The name we were given to honor King Felipe II. It became Philippines during the American regime. The word Filipinas was reintroduced on a local stamp during the Japanese occupation.  It was changed to Pilipinas in 1962 by our government
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Filipino time.Translates into always late—as opposed to punctual, western time. Filipinos have been known to be tardy for all sorts of events, even for one’s own wedding! Celebrities and government officials are notoriously late for functions, but Presidents Cory Aquino, Fidel Ramos and Gloria Arroyo have been known to be very punctual. They say we inherited this habit from the Spaniards’ mañana habit (let’s do this tomorrow). Years ago, we were invited to a show at the Cultural Center to honor Spain’s king and queen, guests of Imelda Marcos. We waited a record two hours and thirty minutes for the hostess and her guests to arrive.

Fish balls.Those tasty, skewered balls of flour and bits of minced fish fried in front of you in make-shift carts. About five to ten balls (about P1 per ball) per bamboo skewer are deep fried and then dipped into bottles of various sauces. Your stomach must be primed for street food because if it isn’t, it will mean Immodium tablets for a few days.

5-6. The lending system for the mostly poor. Say, I’ll lend you P500 today, and tomorrow you pay me P600 (or 20%). Usurious rates, but for small-time vendors who have no capital, they have no choice. By borrowing money to buy for their store, they hope that by the following day, they would have made more than P600 to pay the lender and keep something for themselves.

Flip. For Funny Little Island People coined by Americans (most likely from California where there are at least a million Filipinos). We can refer to ourselves as Flips but we can’t stand it when we are called this by others.

For a while. An annoying phrase Pinoys love to say when they mean just a minute or hold on. My English professor dad threw a fit when people said this. He also told us that hold the line was preferred to hold your line for the telephone.

Frend.This means…friend. (Duh!) We just spell it this way because we pronounce it this way. Blame phone texters who have developed an entire language of their own. Of course the idea in sms is to keep words short and succint. TY for thank you. ANP for the Filipino translation of son of a b----. The curse of spelling and grammar bees.

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