Page 408 - Tagalog for Beginners: An Introduction to Filipino, the National Language of the Philippines

Mababaw ang luha Cries easily
Maitim ang budhi Bad or evil person

Nagsunog ng kilay Studied hard
Walang pagsidlan ng galak Very happy

Hindi maipinta ang mukha Looks irritated and/or bothered and sad

Mga Tala Sa Kultura

When translating or trying to understand idiomatic expressions, remember that
these expressions are bound to the culture of the country. Let us look at a few
examples.
One is the English expression “milking the cow.” When we translate this into
Filipino, we cannot say “paggagatas sa baka” (literally, milking the cow). A better
translation would be “palabigasan” (getting rice from). Why? Because rice, being
the staple food of the Philippines, is a truer image and because “palabigasan” is an
indigenous idiomatic expression referring to a source of money.
Another English expression is “burning the midnight oil” which means working
hard. This connotes an earlier time, before electricity—when one probably worked
or studied using oil lamps. In Filipino, the equivalent is “nagsunog ng kilay,”
perhaps referring to a person reading so close to a gas lamp that his/her eyebrows
are in danger of being burned.

Similarly, the English expression “siren song” refers to something that seduces
and is said to have been derived from the Greek epic, the Odyssey. Should we
translate this expression into Filipino, a more appropriate term would be “awit ng
adarna.” This refers to the seductive song of the adarna bird (discussed in Lesson
20) from a popular metrical romance.
Studying Tagalog/Filipino idioms will make it easier for you as a language
learner to better understand what you read, and to better appreciate the culture of
the Filipino people.

Pagbabasa

Read the following nonfiction text, and then answer the questions that follow. Study
the following words before reading the story. You have learned some of the words
in earlier lessons; they are listed here for you to review.
Daan-daang libo Hundreds of thousands

Sementeryo Cemetery
Nakitang patay Found dead