Putang [Tagalog] (1945)

Douglas G. Wilson douglas at NB.NET
Fri Aug 13 06:40:57 UTC 2004


Here is a US newspaper example of Tagalog "puta[ng]" = "prostitute", one
candidate ancestor of English "poontang".

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_Berkshire Evening Eagle_ (Pittsfield MA), 17 Feb. 1945: p. 9, col. 8:

<<PIAM, the Jap-controlled Manila radio, came to stand for "Putang ina ang
maniwala," which, cleaned and aired a bit, stands for "Whoever listens is a
so-and-so's son.">>

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"So-and-so" here = "prostitute". I think maybe "believes" might be more apt
than "listens" here (but I don't claim any Tagalog competence at all).

"Putang ina [mo]" is still conventional Tagalog (Pilipino) AFAIK ... like
"[you] son of a bitch" in English.

-- Doug Wilson



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