the origin of species

pahamak is usually translated as 'troublemaker' so it's easy to assume that hamak denotes a form of risk or danger. actually, the direct translation of hamak is closer to 'poor'. this came to my attention upon reading one of the placards with short rhymes present in jeeps, usually hanging somewhere behind the driver's seat:

hamak man akong driver
ang paninilbihan
ay gawaing marangal

or something to that effect. anyway, the point is that pahamak literally means a person or situation that leads to difficult times, while 'di hamak is a piece of information sure not to.

another puzzler before i end: the phrase 'malay ko' is a shortened form of the question 'ano'ng malay ko?'; does this imply that that the phrase 'ewan ko' evolved similarly? and if not, what exactly is an 'ewan' and how does one come to possess it?

sige ingat.ü 
posted by stani at 2:17 AM