Juliet from the Shakespeare tragedy laments:
“What’s in a name? that which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet;”
I recently realized how Ilonggos have several ways to call it “rice”. Whether it is cooked or uncooked, one or many, we have a different word for “rice”.
If it’s a seed and there’s many of them, it’s called binhi.
If it’s not yet cooked and there’s many of them, it’s bugas.
If it’s just one, it’s pasi.
If it’s cooked and there’s many of them, it’s kan-on.
If it’s just one, it’s mum-ho.
If being cooked, it’s tinig-ang.
If undercooked, it’s lagdos.
If overcooked and burnt, it’s dukot.
And these words are just used in reference for rice. They cannot refer or describe anything else.
If only Juliet compared their names to a rice instead of a rose, then the story of Romeo and Juliet could have ended differently.
