kaskas
káskas with stress marks
scraping; grating; moving quickly
Usage Note
Kaskas is an onomatopoeic word that captures the sound and action of scraping or grating — for example, grating coconut or scrubbing a surface. Colloquially it also describes moving at high speed, as in a vehicle racing past. The verbal form 'kumaskás' or 'ikaskas' is commonly used in cooking instructions.
Examples
" Kaskasin mo ang niyog. "
Natural Translation
Grate the coconut.
Literal Translation
Grate-it you the coconut.
" May dumi ang kutsara dahil sa kaskas. "
Natural Translation
The spoon has dirt because of the scraping.
Literal Translation
Has dirt the spoon because in scraping.
" Habang nagluluto ako, pakikaskas naman ang niyog para sa ginataang nilaga natin mamaya. "
Natural Translation
While I'm cooking, please grate the coconut for the coconut-milk stew we're making later.
Literal Translation
While cooking I, please-grate also the coconut for the coconut-milk stew our later.
Tagalog builds thousands of words from a few hundred roots.
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