The Age of Carcamonia
 

apa (Tagalog) – wafer, biscuit

azucena (Spanish) – tuberose; in Tagalog asusena; scientific name: Polianthes tuberosa

Vietnam rose (English) – portulaca; scientific name: Portulaca grandiflora

carcamonia (Tagalog)– transfer stickers; from the Spanish calcamonia for “decal”

Chinese beho – colloquial offensive term for Chinese;  from the Spanish viejo for “old”

Lolo (Tagalog) – Grandfather

Like Water Lilies Floating

Veronica Lake – American actress  in the 1940s known for her femme fatale roles

 

Felix

kulang-kulang (Tagalog) – half-witted; colloquialism from kulang for lacking, literally “lacking-lacking”

sampaguita (Tagalog) – national flower of the Philippines; Arabian jasmine or sambac jasmine; scientific                     name: Jasminun sambac

piedra-china (Spanish) – granite paving stone originally from China; from Spanish piedra for “stone” and china             for  “China”

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Merienda

merienda (Spanish) – snack or smaller meal between main meals, originally from the Latin merenda and then               through the Galician, Italian and Portuguese merenda 

calamansi (English, Tagalog) – small hybrid citrus plant native to the Philippines;

           scientific name: Citrofortunella macrocarpa

Pasyón (Tagalog) – Philippine epic narrative of the life of Jesus Christ, focused on his passion, death,

           and resurrection, recited through Holy Week; from the Spanish Pasión

ratiles / aratiles (Tagalog) —  cotton candy berry, Jamaica cherry, Singapore cherry, wild cherry;

           scientific name: Muntingia calabura

ensaymada (Tagalog) – spiral shaped pastry topped with powdered sugar and sometimes cheese;

           from Spanish ensaimada

pan de sal (Tagalog) – bread buns/rolls typically for breakfast or merienda; from the Spanish pan de sal                       (literally bread-of-salt)

bibingka (Tagalog) – baked glutinous rice cake cooked with coconut milk in a terracotta oven lined with                     banana leaves

hihip (Tagalog) – air blower; an iron pipe for blowing air to inflame red embers on the clay stove

bagoong (Tagalog) – a condiment / sauce or paste made from fermented or salted fish

lambanog (Tagalog) – distilled coconut palm liquor usually of very high alcohol content, likened to vodka 

           or sake 

pagaspas / pamaspas (Tagalog) – a stick with strips of light material such as gauze or Japanese/tissue paper                   used to shoo away flies and bugs during a meal;  from the Tagalog word paspas for “a gust of wind”

capiz (Tagalog) – shells made into decorative items,  such as windows, maps, trays, from the windowpane oyster; scientific name: Placuna placenta

perezosa / butaca (Spanish) –  lounging chair of wood ‘and rattan weave, from the Spanish silla perezosa for                    “lazy chair”

Bruun butter – popular brand of Danish butter imported in iconic red tins in the1890s to the 1960s.

           The name is derived from the name of the entrepreneur Lars Emil Bruun (1852-1923) who established                the canning company in 1883. 

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The Money-Makers

palay (Tagalog) – unhusked rice grain

pagi (Tagalog) – stingray; scientific name: Dasyatis pastinaca

buntot pagi (Tagalog) – the tail of the stingray, used primarily as whip or a secondary weapon; also as an                     amulet or protection against folkloric creatures; several can be woven together and wrapped

           to use as a cane

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Adriana

 jueteng (Tagalog) – numbers game played in the Philippines, especially among the poorer communities,                     dating back to the Spanish times and mentioned in the penal code of 1887; the origin of the word is                 believed to be from Chinese, particularly Hokkien, with the characters representing “flower                             pawnshop”

cobrador / kubrador (Tagalog) – the solicitor or collector of jueteng bets who goes from house to house;

           from the Spanish cobrador for debt collector 

lanzones / lansones (Tagalog) –  fruit bearing tree and its fruit; scientific name Lansium parasiticum

Rosa del Rosario – stage name of Rose del Rosario Stagner, a Filipina-American film actress active

           from 1932 to 1950

daraga – Japanized pronunciation of dalaga (Tagalog);  a young unmarried woman, maiden

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Sacrifice

querida (Spanish) – mistress, paramour; from the Spanish querida for “beloved”

cavan / caban (Tagalog) – Philippine unit of measure equal to 75 liters, used especially for

           measuring rice grains

suertehan (Tagalog) – by the luck of the draw; from the Spanish suerte for “luck”

batang Señora (Tagalog) – young mistress of the household; a colloquialism from the Tagalog word bata 

           meaning young or youth, and the Spanish word Señora for “lady” or “mistress of the household”

mayaman (Tagalog) – technically an adjective meaning rich or wealthy, but used in this context as a noun                   meaning “The Rich Ones”, rather than the correct nominal form ang mayayaman  (the rich ones)

 

With Fervor Burning

Municipio (Spanish/Tagalog) – Municipal Hall; chief administrative building in a provincial town

            in the Philippines

calachuchi / kalachuchi (Tagalog) – frangipani, temple flower; scientific name: Plumeria rubra 

hermano mayor (Spanish) – person chosen by the parish priest or a religious organization to sponsor the                     fiesta activities for the year; from Spanish for “older brother” 

Ale  (Tagalog) – respectful address to a married or unmarried mature female who is a stranger, similar to                   madam (pronounced as ah-leh)