12 Old Folks' Sayings

Dr Abe V Rotor 

Living with Nature School on Blog

1. Old man to young man: “I have eaten more rice than you had.” (Meaning the old man is more knowledgeable by experience.)

Typical rural scene by national artist Fernando Amorsolo

2. Old man to young boy: “Amoy gatas ka pa lang, hijo.” (“You smell of milk, child,” a sarcasm comparing ignorance with the innocence of a child.)

3. “Isang sigarilyo lang ang layo.” (It’s only a cigarette away, the distance covered by smoking a stick of cigarette.)

4. “Pumurao ton’ diay uwak.” (Ilk) Literally, “The black crow will turn white.” You cannot wait for the impossible.

5. “Hindi mo magising ang gising.” You can’t wake up one who is already awake.

6. “Agannad ka no saan mo nga kayat ti agtangad ti barsanga.” This is a cold warning on the face, which literally means “Beware if you don’t like to look up at the grass.” (barsanga is sedge, a relative of the grass growing on open field).

7. “Saan nga napan no saanna nga nayon.” (“It’s not there if it’s not part of it.” - referring for example, fly maggots in fermenting fish sauce or bagoong.)

8. “Di ka pay la nakuret.” (Better if you had died of kuret, a tiny poisonous crab that resides in the gills of big fish.)

9. “Matira matibay” It refers to Darwinian concept of “survival of the fittest.”

Author (right) with senior friends Dr Domingo Tapiador and the late Dell H Grecia (center)

10. Nothing goes up that does not go down. This phrase refers to one who has reached the pinnacle of wealth or power.

11. “Aramid ti saan nga agdigdigos.” (“It a work of a hippie or bum.”)

12. “Balat sibuyas.” (An expression that refers to one who easily gets peeved.)