{"id":3964,"date":"2012-01-24T07:57:59","date_gmt":"2012-01-23T21:57:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/theguamguide.com\/?p=3964"},"modified":"2015-10-14T14:20:23","modified_gmt":"2015-10-14T14:20:23","slug":"excuse-me-please-how-do-you-say","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archives.theguamguide.com\/ja\/excuse-me-please-how-do-you-say\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cExcuse me, please. How do you say…?\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

Have you ever said something, thinking you pronounced the word or phrase correctly, only to hear someone use the same word or phrase entirely differently? You’re not alone. Many words and phrases on Guam are not what you would expect.<\/p>\n

Here are a few that stumped me when I was \u201cFresh Off the Plane\u201d (FOP).<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0I\u2019ll try to use common sounds and words to break them down. Again, these are from my perspective. However, if you\u2019d like to comment and\/or correct me, please comment below.\u00a0If you have a few you\u2019d like added, throw them my way!<\/p>\n

Villages<\/h3>\n

For the purpose of simplicity, the villages are categorized as Northern, Southern, or Central.\u00a0Even though these names all begin with \u2018Y\u2019, the sound each represents is unique.<\/p>\n

Yona = joan-ya \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Southern village<\/strong><\/p>\n

Yigo = gee-go \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Northern village<\/strong><\/p>\n

Ypao = ee-pow \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Public beach in Tumon<\/strong><\/p>\n

Mangilao = mang-ee-lau \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Central village<\/strong><\/p>\n

Toto = toe-two \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Central village<\/strong><\/p>\n

Maite = my-tee \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Central village<\/strong><\/p>\n

Agat = ayg-it \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Southern village<\/strong><\/p>\n

Piti = pee-tee \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Central village<\/strong><\/p>\n

Phrases<\/h3>\n

Below are a few phrases my husband broke out when we first moved to Guam.<\/p>\n

\u201cOff the light, fan.\u201d =\u00a0\u00a0Simply means “Turn off the light.”<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cWho\u2019s own?\u201d =\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A more local rendition of “Who does this belong to?”<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cOff the air-con, fan.\u201d = “Please turn on the air conditioning, Dear.”<\/strong><\/p>\n

You Say Potato, I Say Potato<\/em><\/h3>\n

If you\u2019re like many of us who can\u2019t wait to beat it down to the nearest beach, you\u2019ll most likely wear a pair of flip flops in the sand. On Guam they are called “Zories” or slippers. I guess thongs have taken on a new meaning and are rarely referred to as footgear!<\/p>\n

And finally, newcomers to the island are often heard saying “Chamorran” to describe food and language. Wrong! “Chamorro” is the correct designation. Though “Guamese” sounds like a real word, it isn’t. Instead, people from Guam are “Guamanian.”<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

About Kym<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Kym Pangelinan has lived on Guam for 27 years, moving to the island with her Chamorro husband shortly after the fish head debacle.<\/a> She is a happily married mother of three. Knowing what it’s like to be FOB\/FOP (fresh off the boat\/fresh off the plane), Kym shares her humorous insider quips and tips.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Have you ever said something, thinking you pronounced the word or phrase correctly, only to hear someone use t […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":55,"featured_media":21996,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[552,506,507],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3964","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog","category-insider-tips","category-moving-to-guam"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/archives.theguamguide.com\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3964","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/archives.theguamguide.com\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/archives.theguamguide.com\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archives.theguamguide.com\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/55"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archives.theguamguide.com\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3964"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/archives.theguamguide.com\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3964\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archives.theguamguide.com\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21996"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/archives.theguamguide.com\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3964"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archives.theguamguide.com\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3964"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archives.theguamguide.com\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3964"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}