Category Archives: Language

Sara Duterte’s Idiomatic “Bloodbath”

Ah yes, the classic political defense: “It was just an idiom!” Sara Duterte declaring she’s ready for a “bloodbath” in her impeachment proceedings is apparently just her colorful way of saying, “Let’s have a lively debate over coffee.” Because when normal people use “bloodbath,” they’re clearly referring to PowerPoint presentations and polite parliamentary discourse. Never mind that the idiom traditionally conjures images of mass carnage, economic ruin, or, you know, actual pools of blood. It’s just figurative speech—like calling a riot a “group hug gone wrong.”

Perhaps next time she says she’s “ready to burn everything down,” she’ll mean she’s redecorating her office. Or when she calls for a “massacre,” she’s just really passionate about karaoke competitions.

Satire writes itself when politicians throw grenades and call them metaphors. But sure, let’s all pretend “bloodbath” means “spirited discussion.” And maybe pigs do fly—idiomatically, of course.

Sara Vs. Bongbong: Sarcasm Lost In Translation

VP Sara Duterte recently claimed that President Bongbong Marcos didn’t understand her sarcasm when she “thanked” him for the chance to reconcile with her dad, Rodrigo Duterte.

Irony alert: what she missed was that Marcos’ response—“Glad I could help”—was peak sarcasm in itself. It was like two shady titans of politics having a duel using deadpan wit and passive-aggressive smiles, but both were using sarcasm as their second language… and failing the translation.

It’s a classic case of “sarcasm lost in transmission”—a political sitcom where no one gets the joke. Sara thought she was being slick, Marcos thought he was being slicker, and the rest of us are just here for the popcorn.

In the end, it’s not so much a reconciliation as it is a duel of dry delivery. If this continues, we’ll need subtitles just to follow their press statements. Or maybe a sarcasm interpreter at Malacañang or the Office of the VP.

Senator Chiz Escudero Vs. The English Language: A Constitutional Crisis

(Melchor Vergara contributed to this report)

In a shocking turn of events, Senator Chiz Escudero has declared war—not on corruption, poverty, or political dynasties—but on the English language.

At the heart of this linguistic scandal is the word “forthwith,”which the good senator claims is to blame for the delay in VP Sara Duterte’s impeachment trial. His demand? That the Constitution should have used “immediately” instead, as if the fate of the nation hangs on a vocabulary choice.

One might wonder: has Chiz ever met a dictionary? Or, dare we say, Google? Because a five-second search would have told him that forthwith and immediately mean the same thing. But no—why fact-check when you can blame dead constitutional framers instead?

Perhaps next, Escudero will argue that ASAP should be enshrined in our laws, just to make sure no senator ever gets confused again. Until then, we wish him a swift (forthwith? immediately?) enlightenment.