SALITANG KANTO is the direct opposite of Coño English in terms of its
speakers, because this is the jargon of the poor. Among the characteristics
of this language is the switching of syllables in a word and the use of code words.
Salitang kalye (from Spanish, calle or "street"), salitang kanto (street corner)
and salitang balbal are the Tagalog terms for "slang". Kalye means "street",
thus salitang kalye implies that "slang" is pedestrian language. Kanto mean
"street corner" where most bums while their time away. Balbal is the Tagalog
word that means a term or phrase borrowed from a foreign language used
by commoners or less educated people, the form of which is altered
to suit certain usage.
TAGALOG - SALITANG KANTO - ENGLISH
handaan - tipar - party
kasamahan - resbak - backers, allies or back-up
nanay - ermat - mother
pera -datung - money
pulis - parak - police
sigarilyo - yosi - cigarette
tatay - erpat - father
tiyo/tsong - chong - uncle (can be used like man, dude, bro)
usap-usapan - tsismis - gossip
badtrip= annoying/irritating/unfavorable person/circumstance
nomnom= to drink an alcoholic beverage
walangya= shameless
loko= fool
Beware of this:
* gago, putang ina, sira ulo, ulol, kupal, tarantado, pakshit are some
commonly used cuss words. Generally speaking, these are what we
call bad words. But times have changed, thus, they came to be a part
of everyday conversations and are widely used as common expressions
or interjections. These curses are considered as salitang kanto
because we rarely hear the rich utter them.