LINTI

Cuss word? Oh, depends on how the word is used and who uses the term … that includes the situation too. Do you know that ‘linti’ can replace any other hiligaynon word of anger, surprise or even praise? Just listen to the accent… you’ll know.
It’s very Ilongo. Linti has no word equivalent anywhere in the world; yet, it has countless meanings to us Ilong-Ilonganons. Unlike the word idiot in English (meaning someone stupid or someone with very low IQ) which can be translated to other Asian languages such as
in Thailand, Japan, Korea, China, and etcetera… this particular Pinoy versatile term,‘linti’ has not even an English counterpart.
All in one day, my son’s humor opened my eyes to the adaptability of this expression. We were in a bus terminal waiting for the bus bound for Aklan to arrive when a woman, probably, tired of waiting said, “Linti, wala pa gihapon…”  We boarded the bus and after about a minute a teen-ager wearing a short shorts topped with a very revealing blouse came up the bus. As soon as she was seated opposite our seat, the vendor below whistled and exclaimed, “Sa ka linti! Whow…” Soon, the bus was full and we were about to move out when a sports car stopped in front. Whoop… went the roof backwards as it folded and the stylish interior was revealed. The lady beside the driver beckoned at the conductor who came running towards them. She pointed at the boxes of barquillos behind them and the conductor got them. When the car left, the young man by the window seated in front of us, turned to his neighbor and said, “Nami sarakyan ka linti na noh… tsk, tsk!” My son whispered to me, “Mommy, that word alone can make a neat little story.” We both laughed at this but… he was right.
Of course there are other words that has as many uses as this one but they come in very limited meanings and may even sound offensive. And kids are always taught to refrain from using them—or else other people will comment at how badly they are raised at home.
I wonder if the neighbor we had with two children were ever told this guideline on teaching the art of using a language to the young. The moment they wake up, you’ll hear the father with his coffee cup rehearsing the vocabulary he must have learned since he knew how to talk. There was an abundant linti scattered all over their household including their backyard when he exercised his game fowls.  The wife was just as dexterous and of course the pride of their home, their son and daughter, were such fast learners that at eight and seven years of their young life , they can say the words with an agile tongue and a skill of a genius that amazes visitors in the neighborhood often. Whoa… that goes on until they rest at night and the whole process repeats itself the next day. No, it was never boring hearing them day in through day out because they use the expressions with varied inflection to the voice and you’ll just have to use the imagination to make out the live drama you’re hearing. Sometimes, you’ll also hear the terms said and emphasized by some breaking chinawares, a glass or some silvers… My grandmother would murmur then, “Oh my God, they’re awake!” Hahaha!
Honestly, I agree with my son that hearing these very Pinoy expressions used in varied states of mind is entertaining but it takes guts to use them personally in public places too; lest you are mistaken as a street pixie. By the way, LINTI is simply a sudden energy explosion and followed by a burst of light when the weather isn’t good because of the meeting of the cold and the hot air in space. The lightning! Too elementary? That’s how our science teacher in Grade V explained it many years ago.