Philip Cu Unjieng HEARD IT THROUGH THE GRIPE-VINE Have you been keeping count? Or just letting the days, weeks, months slip by as one unfathomable continuum? Cause don’t look now; but on Tuesday, the 15th of September, it’s not only payday, but also Pay-the-Price day as we reach the 6-month...
Philip Cu Unjieng HEARD IT THROUGH THE GRIPE-VINE We take words for granted. We use them liberally, with supreme confidence that we’re using them correctly; but do we really know how they’ve come to exist? And do we even understand their true meaning or etymology? The inescapable fact is that...
HEARD IT THROUGH THE GRIPE-VINE Philip Cu Unjieng Earlier in the month, I had enjoined my friends and readers to get interactive with this column, to send their suggestions to completing the sentence: “You know you’ve been in lockdown or perpetual isolation for too long, when....” It was...
HEARD IT THROUGH THE GRIPE-VINE Philip Cu Unjieng Five months and running, and establishing a world record for continuous lockdown/quarantine duration – the Philippines is now running first in this dubious distinction. While countries all around us have found ways to control the coronavirus...
HEARD IT THROUGH THE GRIPE-VINE Philip Cu Unjieng Even before the pervasive influence of social media; momentous, historical occasions have always led to new words being coined, particular terms suddenly gaining popularity and entering the mainstream. And let’s face it, along with the good and...
I HEARD IT THROUGH THE GRIPE-VINE Right Back Where We Started From – You have to extend some sympathy for the overworked medical community here in the Philippines. They’re at the front lines of our battle against the pandemic; but suddenly, because they were trying to raise awareness of the...
HEARD IT THROUGH THE GRIPE-VINE Teach Me Tonight: If we canvassed parents of children about to embark on their new voyage of online education; it would be easy to draw up a Plus column and a Minus column, and draw some conclusions on how...
HEARD IT THROUGH THE GRIPE-VINE In an ideal world, words would carry weight, possess power; thanks to their intrinsic meaning, and to the cognitive impact they can make as their usage connects us to intended emotions, feelings, and even memories. But the sad inescapable fact today is that in a...
HEARD IT THROUGH THE GRIPE-VINE Always thankful for small mercies, I’m grateful that by and large, Filipinos have embraced the wearing of face masks. Social distancing may at times be a different matter, but you can’t fault the malls and eating establishments for constantly reminding us...
