Newspapers mishandled the high point of Senator Mar Roxas' speech at the recent inter-faith rally against Charter change.
The senator shouted, "Putangina, ano ba ito?!?" after he enumerated the scandals involving Mrs. Arroyo and her government.
Newspapers re-spelled "Putangina" as "P_____ina" and translated it to "SOB!" so the impact and import of the senator's rhetoric was lost.
Everybody knows s.o.b. in capital letters is an abbreviation for "son of a bitch!" so "Putangina!" is not the same as "SOB!" The Pilipino term refers to a certain type of mother while the English word refers to the male offspring of a bitch.
A "bitch," according to one definition, is a female "dog, wolf, fox or otter." In an informal and derogatory way, bitch is also "a woman whom one dislikes or considers to be malicious or unpleasant" as in: "she's the luckiest bitch around" to describe a malicious and unpleasant woman who gets away with high crimes. "Bitch" is also used for "a thing or situation that is unpleasant or difficult to deal with" as in: "Life's a bitch under this gangster regime."
The difficulty in finding an English expletive equivalent for "Putangina!" is understandable because none exists. The word is Tagalog for the Spanish exclamation, "Puta madre!" Translating it into English will produce a ridiculous oath, "whore mother" or "prostitute mother." Some words just don't translate well.
At any rate, "SOB" is the wrong term because it does not approximate what the good senator wanted to convey: his utter disgust with the Gloria Arroyo administration's crimes.
A better translation for the senator's outburst would have been "What the (your preferred curse word) is going on!?!" because it would make clear that he was not describing the mother of Charter change or characterizing Charter change as a male born of a bitch.
"Putangina, ano ba ito!?!" is actually the most logical reaction to just about anything this administration and its allies say or do.
Things have so gotten out of hand I wouldn't be surprised if some of Arroyo's most loyal henchmen are thinking what Senator Roxas said out loud.
Take the case of selective justice. An administration congressman, Bienvenido Abante, learned that National Police deputy chief for operations Geary Barias and several police superintendents went on an 11-day trip to Munich, Germany on the invitation of Rohde and Schwarz, an electronics specialist company.
Consequently, the congressman wants to know, "Was it an official trip? If it was, then the trip should have had an authorization from the Department of the Interior and Local Government and spent for by the government. If spent for by a private person, then who and for what purpose?" Abante believes the lawmen could be liable for graft if a private person or entity "with interest in the National Police" shouldered their travel expenses.
Abante also believes there was nothing wrong with Mrs. Arroyo accepting an invitation to golf and lunch with officials of ZTE, a Chinese company bidding for a huge government contract. Those poor unfortunate cops must be asking themselves, "Putangina, ano ba ito?"
Going back to Senator Roxas' speech… there is something there the Palace can legitimately bitch about: "Patayin ang Gloria-Forever Cha-cha! (Kill the Gloria-Forever Cha-cha!)"
That rallying cry is a personal attack, it goes beyond debating Charter change purely on its merits. It paints an unflattering portrait of those in the Charter change movement.
But in fairness to the senator, he has never said he is against the idea of improving the Constitution. All he said was he is against Gloria-Forever Cha-cha.
Well, who in his right mind would want Gloria to rule forever? And who would be crazy enough to entrust Charter amendments to a con-ass composed of, for lack of a polite term that does not sacrifice precision, SOBs?
"Putangina, ano ba ito!?!"
Perry Diaz
Visit www.PerryScope.org for more news, updates and to comment.
The senator shouted, "Putangina, ano ba ito?!?" after he enumerated the scandals involving Mrs. Arroyo and her government.
Newspapers re-spelled "Putangina" as "P_____ina" and translated it to "SOB!" so the impact and import of the senator's rhetoric was lost.
Everybody knows s.o.b. in capital letters is an abbreviation for "son of a bitch!" so "Putangina!" is not the same as "SOB!" The Pilipino term refers to a certain type of mother while the English word refers to the male offspring of a bitch.
A "bitch," according to one definition, is a female "dog, wolf, fox or otter." In an informal and derogatory way, bitch is also "a woman whom one dislikes or considers to be malicious or unpleasant" as in: "she's the luckiest bitch around" to describe a malicious and unpleasant woman who gets away with high crimes. "Bitch" is also used for "a thing or situation that is unpleasant or difficult to deal with" as in: "Life's a bitch under this gangster regime."
The difficulty in finding an English expletive equivalent for "Putangina!" is understandable because none exists. The word is Tagalog for the Spanish exclamation, "Puta madre!" Translating it into English will produce a ridiculous oath, "whore mother" or "prostitute mother." Some words just don't translate well.
At any rate, "SOB" is the wrong term because it does not approximate what the good senator wanted to convey: his utter disgust with the Gloria Arroyo administration's crimes.
A better translation for the senator's outburst would have been "What the (your preferred curse word) is going on!?!" because it would make clear that he was not describing the mother of Charter change or characterizing Charter change as a male born of a bitch.
"Putangina, ano ba ito!?!" is actually the most logical reaction to just about anything this administration and its allies say or do.
Things have so gotten out of hand I wouldn't be surprised if some of Arroyo's most loyal henchmen are thinking what Senator Roxas said out loud.
Take the case of selective justice. An administration congressman, Bienvenido Abante, learned that National Police deputy chief for operations Geary Barias and several police superintendents went on an 11-day trip to Munich, Germany on the invitation of Rohde and Schwarz, an electronics specialist company.
Consequently, the congressman wants to know, "Was it an official trip? If it was, then the trip should have had an authorization from the Department of the Interior and Local Government and spent for by the government. If spent for by a private person, then who and for what purpose?" Abante believes the lawmen could be liable for graft if a private person or entity "with interest in the National Police" shouldered their travel expenses.
Abante also believes there was nothing wrong with Mrs. Arroyo accepting an invitation to golf and lunch with officials of ZTE, a Chinese company bidding for a huge government contract. Those poor unfortunate cops must be asking themselves, "Putangina, ano ba ito?"
Going back to Senator Roxas' speech… there is something there the Palace can legitimately bitch about: "Patayin ang Gloria-Forever Cha-cha! (Kill the Gloria-Forever Cha-cha!)"
That rallying cry is a personal attack, it goes beyond debating Charter change purely on its merits. It paints an unflattering portrait of those in the Charter change movement.
But in fairness to the senator, he has never said he is against the idea of improving the Constitution. All he said was he is against Gloria-Forever Cha-cha.
Well, who in his right mind would want Gloria to rule forever? And who would be crazy enough to entrust Charter amendments to a con-ass composed of, for lack of a polite term that does not sacrifice precision, SOBs?
"Putangina, ano ba ito!?!"
Perry Diaz
Visit www.PerryScope.org for more news, updates and to comment.
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