What Is Beho? About The Tagalog Term
WHAT IS BEHO – In this topic, we are going to know and learn about a certain Filipino term, which is known as “beho”.
This Tagalog term translates to old or decrepit, where old is refered to as ‘having lived for a long time; no longer young.’ or ‘belonging only or chiefly to the past; former or previous.; while decrepit is referred to as ‘elderly and infirm‘ or ‘worn out or ruined because of age or neglect‘
The term is derived from the Spanish term viejo, which also means ‘old‘. Viejo is an Old Spanish term which came from the Vulgar Latin veclus, which is from the Latin vetulus, which is diminutive of vetus.
One example of how this is used is the derogatory word Intsik beho, which roughly translates to “old Chinese man”. The term itself is not an insult but “Intsik” is in which, according to When In Manila, the latter stirs up negative memories.
The same website cited a statement from Michael Tan, Chancellor of the University of the Philippines Diliman, which states that the phrase was used to insult poor old Chinese men, especially vendors.
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