A few words used in modern-day Filipino vernacular actually have
quite the head-turning (or, at the very least, brain-tickling) origins. Words
like these:
1. Diskarte: This
word is the Filipino counterpart to the English “cunning”. I’m pretty sure
“diskarte” traces its origins from French mathematician and philosopher Rene
Descartes — the guy who immortalized the power and importance of a sharp mind
with the words “Cogito ergo sum” (Latin: “I think, therefore I am”).
2. Kumusta: Our
generic greeting actually comes from — yup! — the Spanish “Como estas?”
3. Jack-en-poy: Known
in the West as “rock-paper-scissors”, both the designation and the game itself
are Japanese in origin, where it goes by “jan-ken-pon” or just “janken”.