Ano'ng oras na? (What time is it?)

The many faces of the question amongst Filipinos: "What time is it?" or in the vernacular, "Ano'ng oras na?" lies within the hearts and minds of each of my countrymen. Simple as it may seem, it has been a famous expression of people nowadays. The intonation and tone of how it was delivered is crucial for one's ear. In the past, it was just a simple question of what really the time is, literally. Now, it's sarcasm of one's tongue to express dismay towards someone as a person or to expose someone's action in which undermines stupidity.

Filipinos are known to be very slow in understanding sarcasm. I admit, I am one of those especially if it came from the Westerners. Well, whether it came from a foreigner or from a Filipino, we just can't keep up with such criticisms. I just thought that the reaction comes into play first -- instead of thinking, we tend to feel outright. Along the emotional reaction, we tend to provide irrational statements to justify such actions. Hence, for example -- the start of your shift is at 20:00, we show up by 20:30. A manager would throw a sarcastic question, "what time is your shift?" or in the vernacular, "ano'ng oras shift mo?". Right at that moment, we become defensive -- providing illogical reasons that we think will tailor fit a story. Yes, blame the traffic, blame the bus or jeepney, or above anything else -- blame everything that came along your way. The problem lies within -- acceptance or I would say, accountability to such actions.

Google coined sarcasm as: "the use of irony, exaggeration, or ridicule to expose and criticize people's stupidity". Maybe to Westerners, it's acceptable based on their respective cultures. Whereas in the Philippines, it usually implies rudeness though it's widely accepted in humors and jokes. I just thought that nowadays, my countrymen are having difficulties differentiating humor and sarcasm. Above all, television rules the nation.

Immunity to such remarks might be one of the main reasons why we can't just comprehend immediately. Our minds became distorted to the fast pace of life in which technology continuously engineers. Analysis became dreadful to most people as everything can be derived from the touch of our fingertips. So I would ask, "ano'ng oras na?" (what time is it?).