i've first heard the cuss word "putanginamo" from my grandmother when i was little. when my mother was so mad because of the bad things i did, she cursed. so i've learned how to curse. so why do filipinos love to curse? ambeth r. ocampo, wrote about that in his book "aguinaldo's breakfast."
"i believe that pagmumura (or cursing) isn't as negative as it's made out to be, since it is a way to get things off one's chest, to release pent-up anger. thus, it keeps a filipino sane, and at times keeps him or her from becoming physically violent."
now my question is, why does my grandmother curse all the time? she would curse when she is happy, she would curse when she's mad, and she would curse when she's sad. i remember asking my grandmother for my allowance before i went to school, and then she said, "wala akong pera. eto, bulbol ko, pagbuhul-buhulin mo" (i've got no money. here, play with my pubes). at that time, i couldn't understand that, but i thought it was quite funny. another instance was when she came to our house and saw the lock on our door was broken and said, "bakit ayaw pumasok ng pinaka-titi nito?" (why is the dick not going in?).
"some people say that the use of foreign curse words instead of one's native language is a way of distancing oneself. 'son of a bitch' will rarely elicit the violent reaction that putanginamo will. many people interviewed for this article were of the opinion that 'mas bastos sa pilipino.' (it's more obscene in filipino)."
i think that cursing is a lifestyle. you will know one's identity and culture by simply learning all their bad words. you will hear that in the movies, in music, and even poetry. most conservative people might find it quite offensive and taboo, but personally, it's not. it's one way of expressing one's anger, thoughts and feelings, without the violence and gore. so let me ask you this, how much do you love to curse?
ambeth r. ocampo was born in manila in 1961. studied primary, secondary, and tertiary levels in ateneo de manila, obtained a BA and an MA in philippine studies from de la salle university, and has taught at the university of the philippines (diliman), san beda college, and dela salle university.
3 comments:
wow! nice.. :)
i had a great time reading that article of dr. ambeth ocampo and yours, too!
i even the snatched the book (aguinaldo's breakfast) from our library just to read all of it.
mr. wencel, you graduated from roosevelt? shocks. i'm a graduating student from roosevelt (san mateo), too! small world..
thank you for reading dr. ocampo's book. i read that book seven years ago and that was an unforgettable article that he wrote. i'm glad that you liked his article, that you "snatched" it from your school's library. happy reading.
ps. yes, i graduated from roosevelt marikina. :)
Haha I agree with this one. I don't know what's up with cursing although I do I used to curse like a sailor back then.Maybe I've mellowed as the years passed by; or, maybe I realized you can actually swear without using cuss words at all. :)
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