pagong
pagóng with stress marks
turtle
Usage Note
Pagong refers to land or freshwater turtles, while sea turtles are specifically called pawikan. It is also used metaphorically for someone extremely slow, and appears as the famous slow-but-steady character in the traditional fable of the tortoise and the monkey.
Examples
" Mabagal na lumakad ang pagong. "
Natural Translation
The turtle walked slowly.
Literal Translation
Slow [linker] walk the turtle.
" Ang pagong ay mabagal. "
Natural Translation
The turtle is slow.
Literal Translation
The turtle is slow.
" Kahit mabagal ang pagong sa kuwento, natalo nito ang mayabang na unggoy dahil sa tiyaga at hindi pagsuko. "
Natural Translation
Even though the turtle in the story is slow, it defeated the boastful monkey because of its patience and refusal to give up.
Literal Translation
Even slow the turtle in story, defeated by-it the boastful monkey because of patience and not surrender.
Tagalog builds thousands of words from a few hundred roots.
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