Are You Really Filipino: 115 Ways To Find Out

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Confused about your ethnic identity; Want to know just how Filipino you are? Take this less-than-scientific quiz to rate your Filipino-ness. You might just be surprised at the results!

Scoring: Give yourself 3 points if you can relate to the following characteristics yourself, 2 points if it relates to an immediate family member (mom or dad) and 1 point if you know of someone who has the characteristic.

(NOTE: This quiz was taken from “The Philippine Review,” August 1995 edition.)

MANNERISMS & PERSONALITY TRAITS:

• You point with your lips.

• You eat using your hands and have it down to a technique!

• Your other piece of luggage is a balikbayan box.

• You nod your head upwards to greet someone.

• You put your foot up on your chair and rest your elbow on your knee while eating.

• You use a rock to scrub yourself in the bath or shower.

• You have to kiss your relatives on the cheek as soon as you enter the room.

• You’re standing next to eight big boxes at the airport.

• You collect items from hotels or restaurants “for souvenir’s sake.”

• Your house has a distinctive aroma.

• You smile for no reason.

• You flirt by having a foolish grin on your face while raising your eyebrows repeatedly.

• You go to a department store and try to bargain the prices.

• You use an umbrella for shade on hot summer days.

• You scratch your head when you don’t know the answer.

• You never eat the last morsel of food on the table.

• You go bowling

• You play pusoy & mah jong

• You find dried up morsels of rice stuck to your shirt.

• You prefer to sit in the shade instead of basking in the sun.

• You add an unwarranted “H” to your name (i.e., “Jhun,” “Bhoy,” or “Rhon.”)

• You put your hands together in front of you as if to make a path and say “excuse, excuse” when you pass in between people or in front of the TV.

• Your middle name is your mother’s maiden name.

• You like everything that’s imported or “state-side.”

• You check the labels on clothes to see where it was made.

• You hang your clothes out to dry.

• You are perfectly comfortable in a squatting position with your elbows resting on your knees.

• You consistently arrive 30 minutes late for all events.

• You always offer food to all your visitors.

VOCABULARY:

• You say “comfort room” instead of “bathroom.”

• You say “for take out” instead of “to go.”

• You “open” or “close” the lights.

• You ask for “Colgate” instead of “toothpaste.”

• You ask for a “pentel pen” or a “ball pen” instead of just a pen.

• You refer to the refrigerator as the “ref” or “pridyider.”

• You say kodakan instead of “take a picture.”

• You order a “McDonald’s” instead of a “hamburger” (pronounced ham-boor-jer).

• You say “Ha?” instead of “What?”

• You say “Hoy!” to get someone’s attention.

• You answer when someone yells “Hoy!”

• You turn around when someone says “Psst!”

• You say “Cutex” instead of “nail polish.”

• You say “for a while” instead of “please hold” on the telephone.

• You say “he” when you mean “she” and vice versa.

• You say “aray!” instead of “ouch!”

• Your sneeze sounds like “ahh-ching” instead of “ahh-choo.”

• You prefer to make acronyms for phrases such as “OA” for overacting, “DOM” for dirty old man and “TNT” for, well, you know.

• You say “air con” instead of “a/c” or air conditioner.

• You pronounce the following words:”hippopo-TA-mus,” “com-FOR-table,” “bro-CO-li,” and “Mongo-mery Ward.”

• You say “brown-out” instead of “black-out.”

• You say “Uy!” instead of “Oops.”

HOME FURNISHINGS:

• You use a walis tambo and a walis ting-ting as opposed to a conventional broom.

• You have a “Weapons of Moroland” shield hanging in your living room wall.

• You have a portrait of “The Last Supper” hanging in your dining room wall.

• You own a karaoke system.

• You own a piano no one ever plays.

• You have a tabo in the bathroom.

• Your house is cluttered with burloloys.

• You have two or three pairs of tsinelas at your doorstep.

• Your house has ornate wrought iron gates in front of it.

• You have a rose garden.

• You display a laughing Buddha for good luck.

• You have a shrine to the Santo Nino in your living room.

• You own a “Barrel Man” (shwing!)

• You have a parol hanging outside your house during the holidays.

• You cover your living room furniture with bedsheets.

• Your lampshades still have the plastic covers on them.

• You have plastic runners to cover the carpets in your house.

• You refer to your VCR as the “Beyta-Max.”

• You have a rice dispenser.

• You own a turbo broiler.

• You own one of those fiber-optic flower lamps.

• You own a lamp with the oil that drips down the strings.

• You have a giant wooden fork & spoon hanging in the dining room.

• You have wooden tinikling dancers on the wall.

• You own capiz shell chandeliers, lamps or placemats.

AUTOMOBILES:

• You own a Mercedes Benz and call it “chedeng.”

• You own a huge van conversion.

• Your car chirps like a bird or plays a tune when it’s in reverse.

• Your car horn can make three or more different sounds.

• Your car has curb feelers on it.

• You hang a rosary on your car’s rear view mirror.

• You have those air fresheners in a bottle.

FAMILY:

• You have aunts and uncles named “Baby,” “Girlie,” or “Boy.”

• You were raised to believe that every Filipino is an aunt, uncle or cousin.

• Your dad was in the navy.

• Your mom or sister is a nurse.

• You get smelling kisses from your grandma.

• Your parents call each other “mommy” and “daddy.”

• You have a family member that has a nickname that repeats itself (i.e., “Deng-Deng,” “Ling-Ling,” “Jong-Jong” or “Bing-Bing.”)

• You put hot dogs in your spaghetti.

• You consider dilis the Filipino equivalent to french fries.

• You think that eating chocolate rice pudding and dried fish is a great morning meal.

• You order things like tapsilog, longsilog, or tocilog at restaurants.

• You instinctively grab a toothpick after a meal.

• You order a “soft drink” instead of a “soda.”

• You dip bread in your morning coffee.

• You refer to seasonings and all other forms of monosodium glutimate as “Ajinomoto.”

• Your cupboards are full of corned beef hash, Spam and Vienna Sausages.

• “Goldilocks” means more to you than just a character in a fairy tale.

• You appreciate a fresh pot of hot rice.

• You bring baon to work every day.

• Your baon is usually something over rice.

• Your neighbors complain about the smell of tuyo on Sunday mornings.

• You eat rice for breakfast.

• You use your fingers to measure the water when cooking rice.

• You wash and re-use plastic utensils and Styrofoam cups.

• You have a supply of frozen lumpia in the freezer.

• You have an ice-shaver for making halo-halo.

• Your cloth tablecloths have tell-tale “toyo circles” on them.

• You eat purple yam-flavored ice cream.

• You gotta have a bottle of Jufran handy.

• You fry Spam and hot dogs and eat them with rice.

• You think half-hatched duck eggs are a delicacy.

• You know that “chocolate meat” isn’t really made with chocolate.

249-345 points: Judging from your high score, you are an obvious transplant from the Philippines. There is no doubt what your ethnic identity is! You’re Filipino, through & through.

173-258 points: Congratulations, you’ve retained most of the Filipino traits and tendencies your family has instilled in you.

170 and under: You have OFT (Obvious Filipino Tendencies). Go with the flow to reach full Filipino potential. Prepare for assimilation; resistance is futile.