Words From The Heart ♡ : Nanaman! (Final Draft)

Again. You already have an idea of what the word “Again” means. Again means “another time”, “once more”, “repeating”, “returning”, “an addition to what already has been done”. I hear this word every single day and there hasn’t been one day that I haven’t heard it. But I don’t hear the word “again”, and you might be thinking... didn’t I just say I hear the word “again” every single day? I do. I hear the word “nanaman”, meaning “again” in Tagalog. This particular word isn’t said by my mom, dad, aunts, uncles, not even myself. No one else in my family says the word “nanaman” except for my grandma.

“You will slip nanaman!” & “Shower nanaman!” are just some phrases I hear being said to my younger sister.  “Nanaman” doesn’t exactly have a ‘special meaning’ but it’s more like a reminder, warning, or command. I’ve only heard my grandma say this word to three people: Sister #1 (Shannel), me, and Sister #3 (Kellsey). I mainly think this is because we’re the only ones making the trouble around the house. I honestly think this word is annoying. It wasn’t annoying at first to be truthful, I didn’t even know what the word meant, but over time I slowly got the idea that the word “again” really fitted in those phrases and I just assumed it meant “again.”

“That’s enough!” there’s plenty of meanings to that word. It all depends on the sentence you use it in. When you do something abnormally frequent, I would say “Britney! Ginagawang Nanaman?”. It’s Also when you do a mistake or something wrong, I would usually say for example, “You dropped it nanaman!” And when you talk back or having a tantrum: “Bastos(rude) nanaman!” I say it because of the action that’s being repeated over and over again.” - Grandma.

To be completely honest... My grandma wasn’t the only person who said this certain word. My great grandma, my grandma’s mother said this phrase very often. I guess it was just said so habitually that it rubbed off on to her. It didn’t seem to rub off on to my mom (mostly because she’s not home most of the time or wasn’t much of a trouble-maker kid either), but my mom doesn’t speak Tagalog to us at all, only to our dad, grandma other relatives who can speak Tagalog as well. I’ve always thought growing up knowing a language other than english was somewhat impressive, but I sadly can barely understand half of the Tagalog conversations going through the house. I guess “Nanaman” will have to be the only word I can fully respond to for now.

I don't find it strange that this word doesn't have much of "DEEP" meaning or has been traced back into my past. To me, this word has a deeper meaning than "again." This word is said by my grandma, that's why it's special/important. It's not a nickname that I was called ever since I was little, not a phrase I always say when I enter my home, not a word that has been passed down for generations... It's simply "nanaman", a word said by grandma everyday to show her custody to not only my sisters, but me as well. Whenever I hear the word "nanaman", my initial thought is my grandma, the person near and dear to my heart. It's a word that clicks in my mind and displays a picture of my grandma. But it's not special just because my grandma pops up in my mind, but it gives me a perception or awareness of what I'm doing and the word itself allows me to realize that. It gives me a feeling of being watched over, that I'm being guided to morally good ways, and helps me to be a model rectitude. It structures me to be not only the person I am today, but to be even better than I am today.

So yes, this word is still being said by my grandma, maybe even as you’re reading this. I always get a feeling of -- NO, not a feeling of ‘warmth’ or ‘love’, but a feeling of stress that just makes you sigh, because most of the the time when “Nanaman” is said, it usually doesn’t mean a good thing, but it's still considered special to me. It is usually put in the phrase “You just did something wrong AGAIN.” Which is pretty normal when I come to think of it. But this word is used in EVERY single circumstance. When I do something right, when I do something wrong, when there’s a misunderstanding, when there’s confusion, when there’s a sense of being proud, like as I said,”EVERY single circumstance.” This is just one of the main reasons why I chose this word to write about. This word represents both concern and disquiet. And also represents an expression of thrill and content, like if I scored A+ on a test for the second time, “You did it nanaman! (You did it again!).” Either way, “Nanaman” is a word that’s been engraved on my brain and a word that not only means “again” but gives a sense that our grandma is always on the look out for bad and good things we do.