I have a rapacious appetite for bananas. As a child, I can still remember how my tita made me repeatedly sing sitsiritsit in exchange for a few fingers of La Tondan every time she arrived home from the town.

My sitsiritsit was kind of twisted version in Ilocano.

Sitsiritsit, ubeng nga basit
Timakke idyay basket
Inangot na nabangbangsit
Kennan na nasamsam-it

English translation:

Sitsiritsit, Little child
Pooped in a basket
He smelled it and the shit stank
He tasted it, the shit was sweet

For the love of bananas, I also memorized and sang Manang Biday, still the lyrics all ripped and distorted to have this funny sexually-wrapped up version.


Manang Biday, agkiday-kiday
Ta urmot mo nagpuskol unay
Sagaysayim tapno rumasay…
(Ay! Matayakon no di nak kasyan)

The original version was:

Manang Biday, ilukat mo man
Ta bentana ikalumbabam
Ta kitaem toy kinawayam
Ay! Matayakon no di nak kasyan

I do not know how to translate the Manang Biday that was taught to me. I tried consulting several online dictionaries but I cannot, for one, find the English translation for the word agkiday-kiday. I am also not so sure about the existence of the word rumasay or rumomasay.

But what I am sure about is that the Ilocano term for pubic hair is urmot; nagpuskol is thick or bushy; and sagaysayin is to comb it or brush it.

It comes to pass now that the literal meaning of the songs is: Older sister Biday, please comb your thick pubic hair.