By Nathan Allen

Being an American who has lived all around the country for 3 years, I’ve heard “Hey Joe” hundreds of times.  More recently, I noticed that tourism has started picking up. I began to see more and more white expats and travelers in the Philippines – most of which are actually not American. Let me tell you, they don’t always like being mistaken for Americans.

They’re Not All Americans

When I explained this to a taxi driver I befriended in Legazpi, he told me a story about Honda motorbikes. He said that back in the 70s and 80s, everybody in the Philippines wanted to have a Honda, because the quality was so good. A bit like “Xerox” becoming synonymous with “copy machine”, soon, “Honda” became the slang word for “motorbike”. Everybody just started calling their motorbike their Honda, regardless of if it was actually the brand Honda or not.

I was a bit confused by this story, because it almost seemed like he was saying that Americans were the “best brand” of white people. Haha…well, I don’t think British, Australians, and Dutch people would appreciate that much. Essentially, I guess he was saying that “Joe” is just a friendly term used to address any white guy.

I’m wondering if perhaps it shouldn’t be.

To me, it’s hard to argue that the word “Joe” should be used for all white guys. Given its roots, it is in fact a very American word. Personally, I don’t mind it at all…but then again, I’m from the U.S. If I was British, German, or Russian, honestly, I might take offense to it. I love my country, but it is not perfect, and does not always have the best reputation out in the world. That’s what I want my Filipino friends to realize. I know that some foreigners are bothered by the expression, because they’ve told me firsthand.

Imagine if Filipinos went to Russia, and everywhere they went, Russians yelled out some nickname that’s specifically used for Chinese people. Russians might not mean it in a bad way, but I don’t think that Filipinos would like being constantly mistaken for Chinese people.

Yes, I understand that throughout the last century, when Filipinos would see a very light-skinned foreigner, 99% of the time it was an American. However, due to globalization and a rapid boost in tourist arrivals, there are now light-skinned foreigners visiting the Philippines from many parts of the globe. I would guess that now, these “Joes” are only American 50% of the time–or less.

American = White? Not So Much…

One other thing. I noticed that some Filipinos seem to equate being American with being white. Quite a few even mentioned how I am part of the American race. It’s no wonder “Hey Joe” has persisted so long, if people believe that “American” is an actual race.

This is something I would like to clear up. These days, America is massively diverse. That is one of my favorite things about America, actually. In California, I grew up with kids from every part of the globe, including the Philippines. We are all very much American.

(continued below)

I know that Filipinos are generally a very warm and welcoming bunch. There is a lot of social etiquette, with emphasis on manners and politeness. That’s why I thought it would be good to give some perspective on how “Hey Joe” may no longer be socially relevant. In fact, in the future (and especially if Trump becomes President), some people might be downright offended by it.

Thanks for reading, and feel free to share!

Social Media

Have something to add? Feel free to leave a comment…

The post Philippines, is it time to retire “Hey Joe”? appeared first on I Dreamed Of This.

One of my favorite things about Filipino languages is how phonetically accurate they are. Once you learn how to pronounce all the letters, you can say almost any word correctly on the first try. On top of this, Filipinos are much more literal. I’ve learned that English leaves a lot of room for misunderstanding.

As an American English speaker, Filipino expressions didn’t seem to make sense at first. However, on closer inspection, I realized that they actually make more sense!  Here are 5 examples:

1. Hot Dog Sandwich

I’ll never forget the first time I saw this on a menu. I just laughed to myself. It’s not a sandwich, I thought. It’s a hot dog. Then I started thinking about the strange fact that in the U.S., it’s called a hot dog with or without the bun (bread). So if the meat alone is called a hotdog, then putting it between 2 pieces of bread is in fact creating a hot dog sandwich. Mind blown.

2. “Wait For a While”

Foreigners in the Philippines always find it funny when customer service reps ask us to “please wait for a while”. In our countries, this is sort of like asking us to wait for a long time. You would never say that. Instead, we might say “just a second, please”, or “wait a moment, please”. However, Filipinos are just too literal for that. they know that in reality it will will take longer than just one second, so they are just being honest. Haha. I like that.

3. The Word “Color”

It took me so long to get used to the way Filipinos pronounce this word. It just sounded so different to me. The truth is that they’re actually pronouncing it in a very straightforward way – just as it is spelled. That’s when I realized how ridiculous my own pronunciation of it is. In the U.S. we say “cuh-ler”. Filipinos see an “o” , and they pronounce it “oh”. Always. That makes sense! What did we Americans do with the “o” sound, and why do we pronounce each “o” in the word “color” differently?? 

4. “Extra Ordinary”

I noticed that one of the bus options in the Philippines was an “extra ordinary” bus. To me, saying extra ordinary is saying that it is more ordinary than a normal bus. Like if the premium bus had seats, air con, and a bathroom on board, the ordinary bus might just have seats and windows that open, and the extra ordinary bus might have no seats or windows at all! Haha.

In the Philippines, extra ordinary is actually the upgraded version of the regular bus. That’s when I realized that in the U.S., if you put a space between the word extraordinary, it starts to mean the opposite. Strange.

“Close The Light”

This one sounds very strange to a non-Filipino. For the longest time I thought it was bad grammar, then I was at a friend’s house one night and I was told to put the lid on the candle to put out the flame. Suddenly it clicked. I was closing the light! I felt so foolish. It makes sense that this expression has persisted so long, because many provinces might have been using candlelight up until the last 10 or 20 years.

This also reminds me of the word “viand“, which believe it or not, I thought was a Tagalog (Filipino) word when I first heard it. My Filipino friends laughed and told me it was in fact an English word. I have never heard the word in my life; I don’t think it’s commonly used in U.S. conversation or literature. Now I’ve started to wonder if many Filipino expressions come from old American English – words and phrases that are no longer used back home.

(continued below)

I’m grateful for the opportunity to live in the Philippines and see my native language in a whole new way.

I actually prefer the way that English is pronounced there. In general, yes…it really makes more sense to me. In fact, when my friends and family talk about “the accent” I came back home with, it’s probably just because I speak like a Filipino now:)

– Nathan Allen

Thanks for reading, and feel free to share!

The post 5 Ways Filipino English Just Makes More Sense appeared first on I Dreamed Of This.