Wednesday, August 18, 2010

"Bahala Na Si Batman" - Exploring one of Filipino's famous expression

One famous characteristic trait of Filipinos is the ‘come what may’ attitude, and we have this odd but famous saying/expression “bahala na si Batman” which is “leave it all to batman” or “it’s all up to batman” when translated in English. But what does this saying really means?

"Bahala na" is usually said in a difficult maybe hopeless situation when things are left to fate. It's like when you have to take an exam and you didn't review, you're gonna say "bahala na si Batman" because you wanna take the exam and you know you have to but you don't care anymore whether to passed it or not.

Batman in this context is taken to be a super persona of some sort who decides one's unchangeable destiny. It’s as if you don’t have any choice and you have to put all your hopes to a certain someone, in this case it’s Batman.

So why Batman? Of all the superheroes, why him?

Maybe, it’s because at one point an old geezer can’t think of any superhero when he invented this saying.

Maybe, it’s just because “Batman” and “Bahala na” starts with the same letter and its sounds nice to the ear.

Maybe, it’s because Batman’s an inspiration for he always finds a way to survive in any given situation because he's greatest weapon is his mind and his incomparable resolve .

Maybe, it’s because Batman is a superhero without any super powers. Thus, he can be looked up upon by any man because he’s a superhero that can actually exist.

Or maybe I just made this whole “why batman” stuff.

But we really do have that kind of saying. ^_^

7 comments:

  1. Hey, I heard from a friend that Bruce Wayne in the Philippines goes by a more Filipino name, but now I can't find it. Is this true, and what is it?

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  2. This is actually cool, glad i've come across your batman blog. Hahaha.

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  3. No, that's not cool. If someone says it is cool is dumb. Let me explain. "Bahala na si Batman" mentality only entails that pinoys don't even care about the future. This kind of mentality should be dropped by pinoys to succeed. This negative mentality can affect how you save money, career goals and business.

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  4. Nice to know what Filipinos think of me, er Batman :-)

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  5. Ask Melanie Marquez. She coined it when she guested in MARTIN after Dark in the 90s.

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