Confused about your ethnic identity? Want to know how Filipino you are? Take this less-than-scientific quiz to rate
your Filipino-ness. You might 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 someone who has the characteristic.
MANNERISMS AND PERSONALITY TRAITS
1.You point with your lips.
2.You eat using your hands and have it down to technique.
3.Your other piece of luggage is a balikbayan box.
4.You nod your head upward to greet someone.
5.You put your foot up on your chair and rest your elbow on your knee while eating.
6.You use a rock to scrub yourself in the bath or shower.
7.You have to kiss your relatives on the cheek as soon as you enter the room.
8.You're standing next to eight big boxes at the airport.
9.You collect items from hotels or restaurants "for souvenir's sake."
10.Your house has a distinctive aroma.
11.You smile for no reason.
12.You flirt by having a foolish grin on your face while raising your eyebrows repeatedly.
13.You go to a department store and try to bargain the prices.
14.You use an umbrella for shade on hot summer days.
15.You scratch your head when you don't know the answer.
16.You never eat the last morsel of food on the table.
17.You go bowling.
18.You play pusoy and mahjong.
19.You find dried up morsels of rice stuck to your shirt.
20.You prefer to sit in the shade instead of baking in the sun.
21.You add an unwarranted "H" to your name, i.e. "Jhun," "Bhoy," or "Rhon."
22.You put your hand in front of you as if to make a path and say "Excuse, excuse" when you pass in between
people or in front of them.
23.Your middle name is your mother's maiden name.
24.You buy tons of bath towels when they go on sale.
25.You love to buy sale items even when you do not need them.
26.You are a member of the "SDK" Club. (Samahang double knit).
27.You are still wearing outdated clothing you have when you first came to USA.
28.You send out RSVP invitation even if the party is to be at home.
29.You love to wear all you expensive jewelry's when attending parties to the extent of having 2-3 rings on both
hands, 3 pieces of necklace or bracelets at the same time.
VOCABULARY
1.You say "comfort room" instead of "bathroom."
2.You say "for take out" instead of "to go."
3.You "open" or "close" the lights.
4.You ask for "Colgate" instead of "toothpaste."
5.You ask for a "pentel pen" or a " ball pen" instead of just a pen.
6.You refer to the refrigerator as the "ref" or "pridyider."
7.You sak kodakan instead of "take a picture."
8.You order a "McDonald's" instead of a "hamburger" (pronounced ham-booh-jer).
9.You say "Ha?" instead of "What?"
10.You say "Hoy!" to get someone's attention.
11.You answer when someone yells "Hoy!"
12.You turn around when someone says "Psst."
13.You say "Cutex" instead of "nail polish."
14.You say "for a while" instead of "please hold" on the telephone.
15.You say "aray!" instead of "ouch!"
16.You say "he," when you mean "she" and vice versa.
17.Your sneeze sounds like "ahh-ching" instead of "ahh-choo."
18.You prefer to make acronyms for phrases such as "OA" for over-acting, "DOM" for dirty old man, and TNT
from well you know.
19.You say "air-con" instead of "a/c" or air conditioner.
20.You pronounce the following words: "hippopo-TA-mus," "com-FOR-table," "bro-CO-li," "and
"Mongomerry Ward."
21.You say "brown-out" instead of "black-out."
22.You say "Uy!" instead of "Oops."
23.You pronounce "F" for "P" or "P" for "F."
HOME FURNISHINGS
1.You use walis tambo and walis ting-ting as opposed to the conventional broom.
2.You have "Weapons of Moroland" shield hanging in your living room wall.
3.You have a portrait of "The Last Supper" hanging in your dinging room wall.
4.You own a karaoke system.
5.You own a piano no one ever plays.
6.Your house is cluttered with boroloys.
7.You have a "tabo" in the bathroom.
8.You have a rose garden.
9.You have two or three pairs of tsinolas at your doorstep.
10.You display a big laughing Buddha for good luck.
11.You have a shrine to the Santo Nino in your living room.
12.You own a "Barrel Man" (shwing!)
13.You have a parol hanging outside the house during the holidays.
14.Your lampshades still have the plastic covers on them.
15.You cover your living room furniture with bed sheets.
16.You have plastic runners to cover the carpet in your house.
17.You refer to the VCR as the "Beytamax."
18.You have a rice dispenser.
19.You own a turbo broiler.
20.You own one of those fiber-optic lower lamps.
21.You own a lamp with the oil that drips down the strings.
22.You have a giant wooden fork and spoon hanging in the dining room.
23.You have wooden tinikling dancers on the wall.
24.You own capiz chandeliers, lamps, or placemats.
AUTOMOBILES
1.You own a Mercedes Benz and call it "chendeng."
2.You own a huge van conversion.
3.Your car chirps like a bird or plays a tune when it's in reverse.
4.Your car horn makes three or more different sounds.
5.Your car has curb feelers on it.
6.You hang a rosary on your car's rear view mirror.
7.You have those air fresheners in a bottle.
FAMILY
1.You have aunts and uncles named "Baby," "Girlie," or "Boy."
2.You were raised to believe that every Filipino has an aunt, uncle, or cousins.
3.Your dad was in the navy.
4.Your mom or sister is a nurse.
5.You get smelling kisses from your grandma.
6.Your parents call each other "mommy" and "daddy."
7.You have a family member that has a nickname that repeats itself, i.e. "Deng-deng," "Ling-ling," or
"Johu-johu."
FOOD
1.You put hot dogs in your spaghetti.
2.You consider dilis the Filipino equivalent of french fries.
3.You think that eating chocolate rice pudding and dried fish is a great morning meal.
4.You order things like tapsilog, or tocilog at restaurants.
5.You instinctively grab a toothpick after a meal.
6.You dip bread in your morning coffee.
7.You refer to seasonings and all other forms of MSG as "Ajinomoto."
8.Your cupboards are full of corned beef, hash, spam, and Vienna Sausages.
9."Goldilocks" means more to you than just a character in a fairy tale.
10.You appreciate a fresh pot of rice.
11.Your baon is usually something over rice.
12.You bring baon to work everyday.
13.Your neighbors complain about the smell of tuyo on Sunday mornings.
14.You eat rice for breakfast.
15.You use your fingers to measure the water when cooking rice.
16.You wash and re-use plastic utensils and Styrofoam cups.
17.You have a supply of frozen lumpia in the freezer.
18.You have an ice-shaver for making halo-halo.
19.Your tablecloths have tell-tale "tuyo circles" on them
20.You eat purple yam-flavored ice cream.
21.You gotta have a bottle of Julran handy.
22.You fry Spam and hot dogs and eat them with rice.
23.You think half-hatch duck eggs are a delicacy.
24.You know that chocolate meat" isn't really made with chocolate.
ABOUT YOUR SCORE:
259-345 POINTS:
Welcome to America. Judging from your high score, you are an obvious transplant from the Philippines.
There's no doubt what your ethnic identity is. You're Filipino, through and through.
173-258 POINTS:
Congratulations, you've retained most of the Filipino traits and tendencies your family instilled in you.
172 POINTS & UNDER:
You have OFT (Obvious Filipino Tendencies). Go with the flow to reach full Filipino potential. Prepare for
assimilation; resistance is futile.
MAIL ME YOUR SCORES!
Picz are up! Go visit!
