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What is the most commonly used word in Tagalog for the English w

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Author Photo by: Pogiwogi
Nov 18 2019, 8:46am CST ~ 4 years ago. 
What is the most commonly used word in Tagalog for the English word (noun) “bug”? I’ve come across the following: kulisap, surot, and insekto.
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Author Photo akosikoneho
Nov 18 2019, 9:42am CST ~ 4 years ago. 
Non native here. I use surot only when referring to bed bugs, otherwise I use insekto.
 
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Author Photo akosikoneho
Nov 18 2019, 9:48am CST ~ 4 years ago. 
I asked a Cebuano L1 speaker, and it parses to her as a fire fly and she doesn't use it in Tagalog. So YMMV.
 
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Author Photo Pogiwogi
Nov 18 2019, 2:13pm CST ~ 4 years ago. 
@akosikoneho Which word did they say parses to fire fly? My wife who is also a native Cebuano speaker also said “kulisap” translates more like “fly” than “bug”... she says her Tagalog isn’t perfect though.
 
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Author Photo akosikoneho
Nov 18 2019, 11:42pm CST ~ 4 years ago. 
@Pogiwogi Kulisap parsed to her as "firefly".
 
As a non-native I would say fly would be langaw. I've asked on the group chat that I run to see if I can get some second and third opinions about kulisap.
 
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Author Photo akosikoneho
Nov 18 2019, 11:53pm CST ~ 4 years ago. 
tl.wiktionary.org/wi ki/kulisap
 
Wiktionary says "Mga maliliit na hayop na karaniwang may pakpak at walang buto.
Nagulat si Ethelda nang makakita siya ng isang kulisap sa kinakain niyang ensaymada."
 
Little animals that usually have wings and no bones.
 
Etheleda was surprised when she saw a "kulisap" in the ensaymada she was eating.
 
So it appears to refer to primarily flying bugs. I did a google image search as well and I did see at least one picture of a firefly, and many more of other small winged insects.
 
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Author Photo TLDCAdmin Badge: AdminBadge: SupporterBadge: Serious SupporterBadge: VIP Supporter
Nov 19 2019, 7:16am CST ~ 4 years ago. 
@akosikoneho
Sounds like kulisap does imply wings...
I remember there was some disagreement about this when the entry was initially added, but now I can’t find the messages.
 
My wife would also use “langaw” for a housefly.
 
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Author Photo akosikoneho
Nov 19 2019, 7:53am CST ~ 4 years ago. 
@TLDCAdmin Yep, there is a chance Pogiwogi's wife has extended "fly" to mean "flying insetcts".
 
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Author Photo Pogiwogi
Nov 19 2019, 1:31pm CST ~ 4 years ago. 
@akosikoneho @TLDCAdmin
 
Thanks for your responses!
 
I gather so far the best most general word to use would be insekto which would cover all insects and bugs with or without wings.
 
Sounds like langaw would be safe to use when referring specifically to a common house fly but possibly all flies in general.
 
And sounds like kulisap is a little ambiguous and perhaps not commonly used at all but some people might say it to specifically mean firefly but that it also might technically mean any kind of fly (according to the definition).
 
And surot means bed bugs and would not be a general word used for bug.
 
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Author Photo Tagamanila Badge: SupporterBadge: Serious SupporterBadge: VIP SupporterBadge: Native Tagalog Speaker
Nov 19 2019, 9:24pm CST ~ 4 years ago. 
Pogiwogi's recap is correct.
 
I am from Manila and the word we use collectively for insects and bugs is "insekto", as given by akosikoneho.
 
"Kulisap" or "kulisáp" is the word some use to mean "flying insects", but it's not a word we use in my neck of the woods.
 
"Langaw" is the ordinary fly.
 
There is also "bangaw" that is used for the larger flies, about twice the size of the regular ones. It is also used for the "blue bottle fly".
 
"Surot" is the bedbug.
 
The Tagalog word for "firefly" is "alitaptáp".
 
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