Category Archives: Language

MISS COLOMBIA’S APOLOGY TO MISS PHILIPPINES: LOST IN TRANSLATION

Miss Philippines, left, and Miss Colombia: both wore the Miss Universe crown Sunday night in Las Vegas
Miss Philippines, left, and Miss Colombia: both wore the Miss Universe crown Sunday night in Las Vegas

LAS VEGAS, Nevada (The Adobo Chronicles) –  As we wrap up our amazing and unbelievable coverage of the 2015 Miss Universe beauty pageant live from Las Vegas, we now bring you our final report.

Miss Colombia Ariadna Gutierrez has finally broken her silence regarding criticism about how she and some of her fellow Latina Miss Universe contestants reacted to the crowning of Miss Philippines Pia Alonzo Wurtzbach.

By now, the whole universe knows what happened Sunday night when pageant host Steve Harvey erroneously announced Miss Colombia as the new Miss Universe and later corrected himself (after Ariadna had already been crowned) that it was actually Wurtzbach who had won.

Miss Colombia has issued an apology to Miss Philippines.

Gutierrez, in both question and answer portions for the top five and the top three finalists, chose to use a Spanish interpreter, despite being able to speak in English.

Again, she chose to use Miss Philippines’ native language to apologize, using an interpreter.

In her statement, Miss Colombia wanted to say to Miss Philippines: I sincerely apologize for the attitude I and some of my fellow Latina candidates gave you on Sunday.

The following was the Tagalog translation provided to her by an amateur linguistics student: “Humihigik ako ng tuwid sa ginhawang binigay ko at ng ibang kandidating Latina sa iyo noong linggo.”

Roughly translated, it said: “I am giggling straight for the relief I and other (former?) Latina candidates gave you last Sunday.”

A classic case of “lost in translation.”

The gracious Miss Philippines, understanding what Miss Colombia really wanted to say to her, accepted the apology nevertheless.

See you all in Belize, dear readers, for the 2016 Miss Universe!

 

COLOMBIA RENAMES ITSELF TO COLUMBIA

imageBOGOTÁ, Colombia (The Adobo Chronicles) – The Republic of Colombia, one of the Latin countries comprising South America, has gained overnight popularity, thanks to that eventful night in Las Vegas on Sunday.

Miss Universe host Steve Harvey misread his cue card and announced that Miss Colombia had won the 2015 crown, only to reverse himself moments later to say that it was actually Miss Philippines who won the pageant.

That awkward moment of de-crowning the Latin Beauty and (re)crowning the Filipina was the most reported and talked about event in the last 24 hours.  News reports and social media posts all but put Colombia in the spotlight, making it the most searched country on the Internet.

Alas, people around the world kept misspelling Colombia, thinking that the country’s name was no different from the famous university in New York or the U.S. capital situated in the District of Columbia.

In order to sustain the popularity and unparalleled momentum, the Colombian government decided to rename the country Columbia, hoping that this would significantly increase tourism to the South American country while making sure that people will not forget the 2015 Colombian beauty queen who was  crowned and de-crowned in Las Vegas.

Bienvenidos a todos. Nuestra pais se llama Columbia!

LAGLAG BALA IS OXFORD DICTIONARY’S WORD OF THE YEAR

imagesOXFORD, England (The Adobo Chronicles) – Webster’s Dictionary has chosen its ‘word of the year,’ and it is not really a word. So has Oxford Dictionary, and it’s actually two words.

Webster’s word of the year is the suffix, ‘ism,’ and was the most searched dictionary entry in all of 2015.  People have been searching the meaning of words such as racism, sexism, ageism and terrorism.  Webster says it’s a reflection of what people around the world have been reading  in the news, or concerned about as they go about their everyday lives in these troubled times.

Oxford Dictionary, on the other hand, has chosen an international word(s) for its new 2015 entry: laglag bala. 

Laglag bala refers to a scheme at Manila’s Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) whereby unsuspecting passengers are questioned and detained for having live bullets in their luggage.  It appears that the scheme is part of a modus operandi by some unscrupulous airport personnel aimed at extorting money from local and foreign passengers.

Laglag bala was the most searched term in Oxford Dictionaries, online and off-line and has dominated local and international news for most of the last quarter of 2015.

Yet another international record for the Philippines!