glasses, mirrors and shades
By hereandthere
@hereandthere (45628)
Philippines
January 4, 2019 7:53am CST
i need to pick up my new eyeglasses soon and realized something.
"i need glasses" could mean "i need eyeglasses to read this" or "i need drinking glasses to pour this juice in."
in filipino/tagalog, the question "may salamin ka ba?" could also mean two things. "do you wear eyeglasses?" or "do you have a mirror?"
of course, i'm aware that in other english-speaking countries, they might use "specs", short for "spectacles." but, then again, "specs" tend to be our shortcut for "specifications."
lastly, eyeglasses with dark lenses that protect the eyes against bright sunlight are called sunglasses or sunnies, but here, it's called "shades."
20 people like this
19 responses
@hereandthere (45628)
• Philippines
4 Jan 19
moreover, salamin is pronounced the same whether you meant mirror or eyeglasses, so you have to be engaged with each other to understand.
another would be buto. same pronunciation whether you mean bone (buto ng manok/chicken bones) or seed (buto ng mansanas/apple seed).
2 people like this
@hereandthere (45628)
• Philippines
4 Jan 19
@sofssu some words are pronounced differently. say, BAba (chin) and baBA (down). so in your language, hindi, all words have only one pronunciation and only have one meaning?
3 people like this
@sofssu (23660)
•
4 Jan 19
@hereandthere ow.. That gets stranger now.. I get the feeling that learning Tagalog is very difficult for a foreigner.
2 people like this
@Porcospino (31365)
• Denmark
4 Jan 19
In my local language we use two different words. Eyeglasses are called "briller" and drinking glasses are called "glas"
We have other sententes that mean more than one thing for instance: "dyr doer" Dyr means animal or expensive and doer means door or die. When we speak it is not hard to tell the difference because the pronounciation is slightly different, but if we read the sentence we might get confused. You can interpret the sentence in two ways: "Animals are dying" and "An expensive door" 
2 people like this
@hereandthere (45628)
• Philippines
4 Jan 19
oh, that could definitely lead to miscommunication!
salamin is pronounced the same whether you mean eyeglasses or mirror. but like you, we also have words that are spelled the same but pronounced differently depending on what you really mean or referring to.
2 people like this
@Porcospino (31365)
• Denmark
4 Jan 19
@hereandthere We have several of those words. The meaning changes if you change the pronounciation. It is difficult for foreigners to learn those words. As a native speakers we automatically pick the right pronounciation according to the context, but it is harder when it isn't your native language.
2 people like this
@SIMPLYD (90717)
• Philippines
18 Jan 19
@hereandthere Funny, that here in the Philippines we have so many dialects. Here alone in Bicol, every town has differences in our dialects.
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@hereandthere (45628)
• Philippines
17 Jan 19
well, i heard that ibon (bird) in cebuano means langgam (ant)
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@jobelbojel (36796)
• Philippines
9 Jan 19
That is so true. In the Philippines, we need clarify what it means first because it means differently.
1 person likes this
@hereandthere (45628)
• Philippines
11 Jan 19
other english examples i could think of, in this cyber age, is "do you have windows?" and "did you take your tablet?"
1 person likes this
@hereandthere (45628)
• Philippines
12 Jan 19
@jobelbojel do you mean 'bukas' as in open or tomorrow? yeah, they are spelled the same, but pronounced differently - buKAS (open) and BUkas (tomorrow).
2 people like this
@jobelbojel (36796)
• Philippines
11 Jan 19
@hereandthere how about "open"
Can you please open the light.
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@hereandthere (45628)
• Philippines
4 Jan 19
when i'm on an international site, or emailing/chatting online with a native speaker, i use 'sunglasses.'
2 people like this
@Letranknight2015 (52665)
• Philippines
6 Jan 19
There's a eye glass store here but I never bothered to have a check up.
1 person likes this
@hereandthere (45628)
• Philippines
6 Jan 19
i resisted wearing glasses for a long time
1 person likes this
@MarshaMusselman (38865)
• Midland, Michigan
4 Jan 19
Mirrors could also fit the sunglasses idea as many around here have a mirror effect so the wearer can see out but no one can see in. I refuse to buy those, I hate them and hate talking to someone wearing them. If it's someone I know I'd ask them to remove them as they can be disconcerting. I may as well be facing the wall. I'm sure they'd like that.
Anyone that tells me they need glasses, I'd guess and assume they meant for their eyes unless they were visiting my house and had a juice carafe in their hand.
1 person likes this
@hereandthere (45628)
• Philippines
4 Jan 19
i get confused and uncomfortable when talking to people wearing those types of sunglasses, too.
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@hereandthere (45628)
• Philippines
7 Jan 19
i associate spectacles with something visual or witnessed - both pleasant (spectacular) and unpleasant (making a spectacle of yourself!)
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@MarymargII (12422)
• Toronto, Ontario
14 Jan 19
We do glasses, shades and sunglasses. Interesting little discussion.
1 person likes this
@MarymargII (12422)
• Toronto, Ontario
24 Jan 19
@hereandthere Different names are always interesting.
Different names are always interesting.1 person likes this
@ilocosboy (45155)
• Philippines
5 Jan 19
Well, in here the term "anteohos" still a popular term for reading eyeglasses. I think its borrowed term from Spanish.
1 person likes this
@Hannihar (130150)
• Israel
24 Feb 19
@hereandthere
I have two pairs of glasses and contact lenses. I have one pair of glasses that I use while working on the computer and to use everyday. The other pair is for reading.
1 person likes this
@snowy22315 (208789)
• United States
6 Jan 19
They are sunglasses here, and shades for slang.
1 person likes this
@ridingbet (66854)
• Philippines
6 Jan 19
i sometimes refer to my eyeglasses as specs. also, sometimes i call my sunglasses as shades.
1 person likes this
@responsiveme (22923)
• India
5 Jan 19
For us it's specs....What we wear
Glasses from which we drink
Sunglasses for sunprotection to the eye
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