Philippine English - Vocabulary and Usage

• Aircon — An air conditioner.
• Accomplish — To complete a form - all government forms specify they are to be "accomplished".
• Aggrupation — A political group. From the Spanish word agrupación.
• Ala — Filipinos prefer to spell "a la," or more correctly "à la," as one word.
• Already — Filipinos use this word to state that they have finished doing something, even though it was completed past the original deadline. In standard English, by contrast, "already" is used only when something was completed ahead of schedule.
• American — An illiberal term used by many local people, referring to any White/caucasian person, regardless of not being from the United States. It can also be used as an adjective on a thing or object which one assumes comes from the Western world. The Tagalog colloquial term "kano" is more commonly used for any white person, which is taken from the word "Amerikano" (meaning "American").
• Apartelle — A budget hotel. From apartment + hotel + le. Other terms used are "apartel," "apartment hotel," and "condotel."
• Apartment — In the Philippines, this is the word used to refer exclusively to a unit in a building that is being rented out for residential purposes. It is also used to refer to the entire building containing those for-rent units.
• Armalite — The US M16A1 rifle, regardless of whether it is made by Colt, Hyrda Matic, or locally by Elisco/Armalite (part of the Elizalde conglomorate which was licensed by Colt to make the rifle for the Philippine Government. Later in 1983, it purchased the real ArmaLite Inc.). Despite the introduction of the M16A2, it is still widely used in the Philippine Military and Police.
• Artist — A movie/television actor/actress. From Spanish artista.
• Assignment — homework
• Baby Armalite — The short barrel version of the M16A1 known as the CAR-15 and similar to the current M4 carbine. First made by Elisco under Colt license in the late 1970s and locally, by Colt, Hyrda Matic, or locally by Elisco/Armalite (part of the Elizalde conglomorate which was licensed by Colt to make the rifle for the Philippine Government. It is used in the Philippine Government Military and Police.
• Baby bus — A small bus used as public transport, the Philippine version of a minibus. The term "babybus" is known to have originated in the province of Cavite, where the baby bus is one of the main modes of public transport.
• Ball pen — A ballpoint pen.
• Banana cue — Sabá (cooking banana, similar to plantain), rolled in brown sugar then deep fried and skewered. The hot oil caramelizes the sugar giving the banana cue a crunchy quality. Name thought to have come about because the bananas thus prepared were served skewered, in a manner similar to Pinoy Barbecue.
• Bargirl — A hostess, dancer, or prostitute in a Philippines strip club, called a cabaret.
• Barbecue — Grilled meat, but not in the American sense: the Philippine barbecue is meat cut into pieces (usually the fat is included for pork barbecues) and skewered, in a manner commonly called kebab cookery outside of the Filipino community.
• Bedspace — The use of a bed at private home, rent for which is paid by a lodger or boarder known as a "bedspacer."
• Biodata — Similar but inferior to a résumé; a form that lists a person's accomplishments.
• Birdie — (offensive, slang) The penis.
• Biscuit — A loan word from British English, known in Tagalog as a Biskotso, which is an American cookie.
• Blow — To vomit.
• Blowout — To Filipinos, this means to throw a party, versus in American English, it's when your car has a flat tire.
• Blue seal — An imported version of a locally produced cigarette, usually untaxed. From the blue seal labels found in cigarettes for export or tax free use. Usually of higher quality than the locally produced equivalent.
• Bold — Nude. Maybe because movies showing nudity were considered bold, as in daring. Possibly from the 1960s when conservatism in society was only beginning to break down. A movie with nude scenes is known as a Bold movie. In the 1970s, the term for such movies was "bomba film," whereas in the 1980s it was "S.T. (sex trip) movie." These were also called T.F. (titillating films).
• Boodle fight — A gathering where food (usually pansít, or steamed rice and sardines) is served on old newspapers or banana leaves spread over a table and eaten with bare hands by a group of people. Although it is the practice for some Filipinos to eat with their hands, a group of people eating this way from one source is an unnatural and contrived practice in Philippine culture. This way of eating was devised by PMA cadets, and does not represent authentic Philippine culture, but instead symbolizes fraternity and equality among PMA members by their sharing the same food without regard to rank. The term is taken from pre-World War Two West Point slang meaning "any party at which boodle (candy, cake, ice cream, etc.) is served."
• Boom-boom — A vulgar expression for sexual intercourse.
• Boston — A type of metal or rubber pad placed in the heel and/or front of the sole of a shoe for antislip purposes.
• Boundary — An amount public transport drivers pay their operators daily; any excess belongs to the driver as his daily wage.
• Boy — An affectionate nickname, used for certain men, to describe boyish facial features, usually combined with a second word which describes their employment, hobby, or body type.
• Bring home — A noun-phrase mostly encountered in the Visayas, this is used in reference to food at fiestas or other social gatherings packed by the host for guests to "take home". It is often shortened to the acronym 'BH'.
• Bull ring — A class ring about the size of a standard American men's class ring, worn by some members of the military, police, fire service, Bureau of Corrections, coast guard and merchant marine. The term "bull" refers to the ring's large size in comparison with Philippine class rings of civilian colleges, which are smaller. A "super bull ring" is a large class ring comparable in size to those of American institutions such as The Citadel, Norwich University, and VMI.
• By and by — Later.
• Cabaret — (pronounced /KA ba ret/) A strip club.
• Cabinet (furniture) — This refers to "closet."
• Cadette — A female cadet. From French. The Philippine pronunciation is derived from West Point slang. "cdtte" is the usual abbreviation of this term.
• Calling card — Refers to a business card. A call card, on the other hand, is a phone card.
• Camote cue — It is similar with Bananacue, but using sweet potato.
• Canteen — A loan word from British English, normally used for cafeteria. Canteen in American English is a water container.
• Car park — A loan word from British English, which is a garage parking or a parking lot.
• Cargo train — A loan word from British English, which is a freight train.
• Carnapper — A car thief. Motor vehicle theft (carjacking) is known as Carnapping.
• Cent — A centavo. "¢" the symbol for "cent" is also used as a symbol for "centavo." Formerly, "ctvs" was commonly used as the abbreviation for "centavo." "ctvs" appears to be a combination of "ctvo" the correct English abbreviation for "centavo(s)" and cs the correct Spanish abbreviation of "centavos." Cénts is a Spanish abbreviation for céntimos and "centavos."
• Certain — Used to emphasize (what?) or to denote (what?)(specify???), as in e.g., "The desk officer of the UP police, a certain Corporal Kalibo, told the Inquirer ...", or "What we're really pushing for is diversification, maybe have a certain bucket in fixed income, a certain basket in equity-based funds and then a certain portion in the peso and dollar funds," (emphasis added). The word is used more in Philippine English than in other dialectal forms.
• Chancing — To make a sexual advance. To "cop a feel." Mostly used by Filipinos of the Silent Generation and the Baby Boom Generation, this refers to advances by either gender that "take a chance" toward some form of suggestive bodily contact.
• Chicken — Something which is easy or easily accomplished. The final exam was chicken "The final exam was easy." This is derived from the expression "chicken feed."
• Chit — A restaurant bill or a card.
• Chocolate man or crocodile — Refers mostly to policemen in charge of traffic in Manila. Also refers to some politicians. From the formerly khaki uniform in use by the police (Nowadays Philippine police uses a blue uniform).
• Coast guardian — A coast guard (US) or coastguardsman (UK).
• Colgate — Refers to toothpaste. It is a genericized trademark.
• Combo — Can refer to a musical band in addition to standard meanings.
• Comfort room — The Filipino term for bathroom/restroom. Usually abbreviated as "C.R."
• Commuter — One who takes public transport, as opposed to motorists ("drivers").
• Cong. — An abbreviation for congressman. This abbreviation is normally used for the terms "congress" and "congressional."
• Cotton bud — A loan word from British English, which is a cotton swab.
• Coupon bond — Bond paper, with the coupon diverging in meaning from accepted uses of the word, e.g. "a stub". The word coupon is also used with that meaning in Philippine English. Coupon bond is pronounced /ko'pon bo'nd/, possibly due to the ambivalence of Philippine languages with the vowels o and u, as happens in most loanwords/co-optations in Tagalog.
• Course — While Philippine English is mainly modeled after American English, some British words, phrases or usage have found their way into it, as with the word "course" which means the same way it's understood in the UK and Australia as the entire program of studies required to complete a degree. Americans use the word "academic major" for the entire program, and use "course" to mean a unit of teaching for which academic credit is given.
• Cowboy — An American.
• Cutex — A nail polish. It is a genericized trademark.
• DOM — A dirty old man.
• Dine-in — "Eat in," "for here" (vs. Take-out). This is commonly used by fast food attendants who have to ask whether a customer's order is a take-out or a "dine-in" one (i.e. eat within the establishment). "Dining in" means something else in the United States.
• Dirty kitchen — In a private home, a separate kitchen intended for the household help.
• Dollar-speaking — Usually someone who speaks in English in public. Also "Spokening Dollar"
• Dormmate — Someone who stays in the same dormitory. A Dormer is a dormitory resident.
• Double deck — A bunk bed, also known as a double bed.
• Drive-in — Refers to motels, rather than outdoor movie theaters.
• Duster — A sun dress. "Although she is wealthy, she wore a duster to the market so she would not be overcharged." The horsemen and cowboys, in the American Old West, wore linen coats, known as "dusters," to protect their underclothing from dusty, dirty trails and roads. Also, a cleaning instrument (a duster in other parts of the world) is known as a feather duster.
• Eat-all-you-can — All-you-can-eat.
• Eisenhower jeep — An M38A1 jeep.
• English — An English-speaking, white American.
• Entertain — A word you will mostly hear, from a worker, when in a government office or a business building such as "how can I entertain you" or if they claim to be busy they will than reply "I cannot entertain you at this time." The true English word which is really be thought of is "assist."
• Estafa — Used in English-based Philippine law for the crime of fraud or embezzlement or small-scale economic cheating activity. From Spanish "con art".
• Ex. — The abbreviation of the phrase "for example.", supplementary to E.g. This is used only in writing, and is read as "Example...".
• Feeling... — A term most commonly used by youths to call someone who one thinks is trying to act or be something they're not. Usually preceded by a noun or adjective, for example "feeling close" (or "F.C."), someone who acts like they're close to another when the other person hardly knows them or doesn't know them at all.
• Filipino time (or Manila time) — The habit of Filipinos not being on time.
• Fill-up — To fill out a paper or document, e.g. Please fill-up this form. From British English.
• Fiscal — The title/position equivalent to public prosecutor.
• Fiscalize — To serve as a check and balance; commonly used by politicians.
• Five-six — Borrowing or lending money with 20% interest. This also refers to certain types of businessmen (usually Indian and other South Asian) who engage in the same money lending business (20% interest) and typically commute in motorcycles. Five-six comes from a scheme of lending 5 (hundred pesos) and expecting back 6 (hundred pesos).
• For a while — Used on the telephone to mean "please wait" or "hold on." A literal translation of Tagalog Sandalî lang (correctly: "Just a moment").
• FX taxi — A type of share taxi. Share taxis in the Philippines are usually Toyota Tamaraw FX, an Asian Utiliy Vehicle (AUV) based on the Toyota Kijang sold in Indonesia.
• Gay — Refers to effeminate homosexual men only as opposed to homosexuals in general. It also refers to male-to-female transgenders (e.g. transsexuals and cross-dressers). Based on the use of the Filipino word bakla. (See LGBT culture in the Philippines.)
• Get down / go down (a vehicle) — "Get off." Derived from Tagalog context (Bumabâ ka, literally meaning "(you) get down").
• Gets? — "(Do you) understand?" Slang from "Do you get it?". The usual reply is Ah, gets. ("Ah, (I) understand.")
• Gimmick — A planned or unplanned night out with friends. Also, any offering during evening hours by clubs, bars and restaurants to lure customers in.
• Go ahead — Leave in advance ("I'll go ahead" means "I will leave now, earlier than you guys"). "I'll go ahead " is a literal translation of Tagalog Mauna na akó, which means "I'll leave you now" more than "I'll go before you now".
• Green jokes — Dirty jokes (subsequently, to be "green-minded" is to have a dirty mind, e.g. always giving sexual connotations to everything). Loan translation from Spanish "chistes verdes." By contrast, it's interesting that in standard usage the term "blue" means "obscene" or "pornographic" and is used in terms such as: "blue jokes"; "blue films"; "blue movies"; and "blue stories."
• Haggard — Motorcycle cop; somewhat obsolete, more commonly used now is 'hagad'.
• Hand carry — Refers to carry-on luggage (when flying on commercial aircraft).
• Havaianas — flip-flops
• High-blood — A term used on someone who is quick-tempered or easily angered (Mag ha-high blood na naman yan, meaning "They're going to get angry again"); or as an adjective, ("Huwag kang high blood", meaning "Don't be angry" or "Don't get angry"); a person or thing that is displeasing and makes one annoyed or angry (Nakaka-high blood ka, literally meaning "You make me really mad"). Can also mean the literal term for something that's likely to cause, or give someone "high blood pressure". (Na ha-high blood ako, literally meaning "I have high blood pressure", or "I'm suffering from high blood pressure".)
• Hold departure order — An executive/judicial order to hold the departure for a foreign country of a criminal suspect.
• Holdupper — A holdup man, or stickup man.
• Hollow block — Cement, concrete, or foundation block.
• Hostess/GRO — A female waiter in a beerhouse. The same word is used to denote a prostitute, although the very word "prostitute" denotes people who ply the streets for customers. From the beerhouse practice of asking a female waiter out, in exchange for money, to have sex with her. GRO is an abbreviation for "Guest Relations Officer" and has the same source.
• Hyper — This prefix is used as an adjective to describe a person who is high-strung. From the term "hyperactive."
• Ice drop — A popsicle.
• Jeepney — Mass transit vehicles originally made from US military jeeps. (See "Owner" below).
• Jingle — To urinate. It is not clear whether the now-defunct Jingle Chordbook Magazine popular in the decades 1970s-1980s used the urinating cupid on its masthead logo before the slang term came into circulation, thus inspiring its conception and street usage, or whether the image was inspired by the slang term.
• Joe — A now obsolete term for an American, used during and after WWII, from G.I. Joe.
• Junk shop — A shop that sells scrap and recycled materials.
• Jutes — Cannabis. In American English, Jute is not a type of Cannabis.
• Kennedy jeep — A 1960 M151 MUTT jeep.
• Kidnapable — A person who, because of his or her high social standing or considerable wealth, is a likely target for kidnapping for ransom. While this could be heard and can be considered part of Philippine street English, it is usually used tongue-in-cheek. Additionally, Filipinos would just about join any English or Philippine English or Tagalog verb with the suffix '-able', but all with a certain amount of humor understood in the usage.
• Kodaki — Take a photo. A verb form of the genericized trademark Kodak.
• Live-in — An unmarried couple who lives together in a sexual relationship; to 'live in sin'.
• Load — Refers to prepaid credits on a prepaid mobile phone. Load can be acquired by "electronic reloading".
• Lowbat (or lowbatt) — A blend of the words "low" and "battery", the term is often used when the battery power of an electronic device (such as a mobile phone) is running low and about to die, or has already died.
• Malicious — Refers to sexually perverted speech or actions, such as sexual innuendo. Distinguishable from standard English usage which refers to harmful intent, without sexual connotations.
• MacArthur jeep — A Willys MB.
• Macho dancer — Refers to a male stripper in a Philippine gay bar.
• Marine tank — An Amtrak, specifically an LVT-5.
• Masteral/s — University studies required to obtain a Master's degree. The word is obviously adapted for the master's degree program from the modifier

"doctoral" used in the doctorate program.

• Meat house — A small house where meat is stored for drying or a smokehouse for curing meat or fish, through a smoking and drying process.
• Metro aide — Refers to public street cleaners or broom sweepers employed by the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority.
• Mickey Mouse money — Refers to obsolete WWII Japanese occupation paper currency in the Philippines.
• Middle name — Usually the mother's maiden surname. Filipino culture is highly patriarchal and family-centered, so the name reflects the ancestral roots of the person, with the surname from the father, and the middle name from the mother. In some legal documents middle names are written in the Spanish style, appearing after the surname and are preceded by "y" which is a Spanish conjunction.
• Minced beef — Ground beef.
• Mineral water — Is freely used to mean any PET bottled water or any water in carboys provided by bottled-water sellers, regardless of whether these are correctly or falsely mineral, purified or distilled drinking water.
• Mistah — A graduate of the Philippine Military Academy. From "mister."
• Morning star — Having "sand" in your eye, after awakening from sleep.
• Motel — Used mostly to refer to a love hotel, a hotel or a motel paid at an hourly rate, used primarily for sex. Often used with the word "short-time" as in the construction "short-time motel."
• Motor — Shortened term for a motorcycle, or moped (see Scooter, below).
• Napkin — A female sanitary napkin or cloth napkin.
• Necrological service — While "necrological" is often used in standard English to refer to military records or listing of casualties and the dead, in the Philippines "necrological service" is used by funeral homes to refer to a pre-burial event consisting of eulogies and songs, especially over a deceased celebrity or public figure. Outside this page, this Philippine English phrase as such may have been first noted in writing in the Taglish elegy of Filipino poet V.I.S. de Veyra for English-language Filipino poet Ophelia Alcantara Dimalanta titled Requiem Para Kay Ophie (Dimalanta)---Makata, Kritiko ng Wika which mentions "necrological service" among other Philippine English words and phrases.
• Nightclub — Used to refer exclusively to strip clubs, especially among the older generation. To avoid confusion, real nightclubs are instead referred to as "dance clubs" or simply as "clubs."
• Nipa hut — An indigenous house used in the Philippines.
• Nosebleed — A term used for a person who cannot speak, pronounce or understand English or any other foreign language well.
• Number two — A mistress. The recipient of illicit affection by a married/involved man or woman.
• Ocular inspection — Although, a familiar phrase in ophthalmology, this is widely used in Philippine business and government to refer to a necessary inspection of a location for such purposes as a (near-)future event or project or for an assessment by an investigative body.
• the — Turn or switch the . From Tagalog bukas (open) and patay (dead). The literal translation of Buksan/Patayin mo ang ilaw. "Turn on/off the light."
• Overpass — Commonly used to refer to a pedestrian overpass, pedestrian separation structure or pedway. In North America, an overpass often means a bridge or road crossing over another road.
• Owner-type (or Owner jeep) — A customized Jeep-derived vehicle for private, non-commercial use. Usually constructed in bright stainless steel.
• PX goods — Any import restricted imported grocery item. From Post Exchange due to the illegal but lucrative business in then US military bases in the Philippines in exchanging such goods for cash. Sold in so-called PX stores. Prized for their quality and variety. The stores (and goods) died out when trade was later liberalized, probably in the 1990s, opening the door for the availability of imported goods in the Philippines.
• Pack Up — Used instead of "wrap up" when referring to movie sets, presentations, etc.
• Parlor/Salon — Refers to a hair/beauty salon. "Salon" originally meant a place to gather.
• Pension house — A family-owned guest house or boarding house.
• Pentel pen — A marker, regardless of manufacturer. A genericized trademark from the Pentel brand of markers (similar to the American usage of Sharpie.
• Perfume — Any scent used by women or men. No distinction is made between perfume and cologne.
• Petrol — A loan word from British English referring to gasoline derived from refined petroleum.
• Polo — Used in the Philippines to mean the dress shirt. In the US and the UK, the phrase "polo shirt" refers to the golf or tennis shirt.
• Pershing cap — A service cap.
• Pistolized — An adjective to describe a long gun with its shoulder stock removed and replaced with a pistol grip.
• Practicumer — Refers to a student who participates in a course of study that involves the supervised practical application of previously studied theory; an intern. (Practicum - internship)
• Presidentiable — A person aspiring to become the President of the Philippines.
• Professional — To be proficient, skillful; used colloquially e.g. "I'm a professional driver" denotes that I drive very well, not that I drive as a profession.
• Promise — Used for taking an oath.
• Railway — A loan word from British English possibly, stemming from the fact that the first railroad in the Philippines was built by the British.
• Ref — Refrigerator, as opposed to the American English "fridge", which was derived from the early 20th Century, American refrigerators made by Frigidaire.
• Remembrance — A souvenir or memento.
• Revival — Cover version of a song.
• Rotonda/rotunda — rotary intersection, roundabout, or traffic circle. Adopted from Spanish.
• Rhum — This French word listed in Webster's Third New International Dictionary is the preferred spelling of rum. This variation in spelling is a little similar to "whiskey" (U.S. and Ireland) and "whisky" (Scotland and Canada).
• Rubber shoes — Sneakers, athletic shoes, or gym shoes.
• Rugby — Rubber cement. A genericized trademark from the Rugby brand of wood glue popular in the Philippines.
• Sala — Refers to either a courtroom or the living room. In international English, specifically in architecture, sala would otherwise refer to sala Thai. From Spanish.
• Sala set — Living room furnture.
• Salvage — A slang word for summary execution, the meaning evolved from frequent usage in sentences such as 'The corpse was salvaged from the Pasig river,' when the real meaning is 'The corpse was found floating on the Pasig River among the salvage(refuse).' The word may have also been a pseudo-anglicism of the Spanish word Salvaje (pronounced the same as the Tagalog word 'Salbahe'), meaning "like a wild animal", "feral". When used as a verb it means "to maul", "to attack viciously".
• Sari-sari store — Refers to a small, neighbourhood convenience store or booth. Sari-sari is Tagalog for "mixed variety" or "sundry", but the term is generally used in Philippine English. Sometimes called a "variety store" in the Canadian sense.
• Scooter — A moped or small motorcycle.
• Scotch tape — Transparent adhesive tape. A genericized trademark.
• See-through fence — A chain link fence. Also cyclone wire fence, a term used even in government specifications.
• Senatoriable — A person aspiring to become senator.
• Service road — A non-limited frontage road or access road running parallel to a higher-speed road, usually a freeway.
• Short-time — Refers to a "short-time hotel," where prostitutes, within roughly three hours, perform their illicit services.
• Sidecar — A public (for-hire) vehicle consisting of a bicycle and an attached passenger sidecar.
• Sign pen — A pen similar to a technical pen used for signing documents. From Pentel Sign Pen.
• Slang — May refer to strong foreign accents and pronunciation, e.g. "Your English is very slang", often implying that someone is hard to understand or that the speaker has an American accent. Distinguishable from standard English usage which refers to very informal usage of vocabulary and idioms, rather than pronunciation alone.
• Slippers — Sandals and flip-flops.
• Snake — A slang word for an eel.
• Snopake — British correction fluid company, which is the world's first producer of liquid correction fluid. It is a genericized trademark.
• Soft drink — Soda pop.
• Sounds — Referring to music; especially when heard through an ear phone.
• Space wagon — A minivan.
• Sponsor — A college or high school honourary cadet colonel.
• Squatter area — A shantytown.
• Step-in — Stylish ladies' sandals minus the strap.
• Stick — An individually sold cigarette in the Philippines versus a sold sealed pack of cigarettes.
• Subdivision — A gated community. Also known as a Village.
• Technical sergeant — A non-commissioned officer grade just below master sergeant and just above staff sergeant in the Philippine Army, Philippine Air Force, and Philippine Marine Corps. The defunct Philippine Constabulary also had this grade. Derived from the U.S. Army grade used during World War II. Presently in the American military, only the U.S. Air Force uses this grade.
• Third lieutenant — The lowest commissioned officer grade of the American colonial gendarmerie, an organization which existed from 1901 through 1942. The American colonial army also had this grade from 1935 through 1942. Similar to the American colonial army, the Spanish army in 1898 had a rank structure with four company grade officer ranks: captain; first lieutenant; second lieutenant; and ensign (alférez). In contrast, the Philippine army in July 1898, like the present Philippine army, had three company grade officer ranks: captain, first lieutenant, and second lieutenant.
• Tissue — A paper napkin or bathroom tissue/toilet paper.
• Toga — Refers to the commencement/graduation gown.
• Tomboy — A boyish girl. A "tomboy" is almost always presumed to be a lesbian, although it may also refer to straight girls who dress and act like boys (see Gay, above). The word is rarely used, if ever, for feminine-looking lesbians.
• Topsiders - A classic, American boat or deck shoe, which became popular in many countries in the 1980s and were designed and manufactured by Paul Sperry in 1935.
• Topdown — A convertible automobile.
• Torà tóra — A T-28 Trojan aircraft formerly used by the Philippine Air Force and utilized during the counterinsurgency wars in the Philippines in the late 1970s and 1980s. The name "torà tóra" is derived from the film, Tora! Tora! Tora!. This movie features aircraft which resemble the T-28 Trojan in that they had a low wing and a single radial piston engine.
• Traffic — Implies a traffic jam or heavy traffic. Usually used as an adjective, referring to heavy traffic volume.
• Traffic lead — Unarmed traffic police.
• Tricycle — A public (for-hire) vehicle consisting of a motorcycle and an attached passenger sidecar.
• Trolley — A loan word from British English, which is a cart or baby stroller.
• Trooper — Any serviceman. Normally this term refers specifically to a soldier in a cavalry or airborne unit. In the U.S. this term is also used for state policemen, whereas in the U.K. it is also used for special forces soldiers.
• Trying hard — Refers to an unsuccessful social climber. (outdated)
• Turco — Carpenter term for an anti-rust paint used in roofs. A genericized trademark from the Turco brand.
• Under de Saya — Literally meaning, a husband "under the skirt" of the wife, as in a henpecked husband who can't say no to his wife.
• Vendo or vendo machine — Refers to a vending machine, that usually sells snacks and soft drinks, like Coca-Cola products. The slang term is originally from the American Vendo Company operating in the Philippines.
• Via-satellite — This phrase has been used by Philippine television channels RPN 9 and Q TV to refer to satellite-fed foreign shows delayed by several minutes or hours in contrast to live television broadcasts. For instance, RPN 9 might show a random NBA game coverage either "live" or simply "via satellite". Q TV, meanwhile, since 2008 has been broadcasting American Idol "via satellite" (with more or less a 10-hour delay), except for the finals which have been traditionally shown "live".
• Vice governor — In the provinces of the Philippines, the second-in-command, to the provincial governor and similar to a lieutenant governor in the U.S. states, territories and commonwealths.
• Videoke — Karaoke with lyrics on a television monitor was first coined in the Philippines in the 1990s.
• Vulcanizing Shop — An automobile and truck tire repair shop.
• Washday — A work day where an employee can wear casual clothes, as uniforms, are usually laundered that day.
• We accept — Usually found on business signages, cards and flyers, the phrase "we accept" is used to refer to what orders or requirements the business can accommodate. American businesses would use the phrase "we do", as in "we do lettering" instead of "we accept lettering".
• Wet market — A street market.
• Xerox — As a noun, it means a photocopier; as verb, to make a photocopy of. A genericized trademark from the Xerox brand of photocopiers.