Cebuano Homonyms

I rode a jeepney to work this morning and since it was almost full the konduktor said, 'Sikit-sikiti lang sa waa ug tuo beh.. O lingkod lang didto sa tuo miga.'

I got so confused on what was the tuo, it was embarrassing. What's worse is that I sat on the left seat. Hehe

So it got me thinking. Cebuano words have a lot of homonyms that can seriously confuse a person. Let's take 'Waa and Tuo' for example. 'Waa' could mean left or nothing or i don't know. 'Tuo' on the other hand could mean right or believe or if you double it, 'Tuo-Tuo' it now becomes a superstitious belief or false belief. It all depends on where you put the stress on the word and non-native speakers it must be impossible to learn. As a native speaker though, it's just embarrassing. I truly thought I could be a linguist. When I was kid, I was fluent in Masbateño, Tagalog, English and Bisaya (thanks to my mom who kept tagging me along on her travels). Then when we've finally settled in Cebu so that I can concentrate in my studies, I lost it. Damn, I knew school would ruin my learning!

So I plan to be the best linguist I can be. Im gonna start with my left and right. Motuo mo or dili? Tuo nalang kay dili ni Tuo-Tuo. Lolz!