Our listener Ben wondered why his filipino friends would giggle when using the word “pokey”….

(original post on publicjourinal.com “pocky vs puke” link)

ポッキ [Japanese: po·kki | ‘po-kki | ]
puke [Tagalog: pu·ke | ‘poō-keh | ]

One is the sweet treat, and the other… well it could be a sweet treat.

Pocky [link], is a Japanese confection consisting of a biscuit/cookie/breadstick partially coated with a sweet shell.

Puke, is the generalized term for vagina.

Pukengkeng [ Tagalog: pu·keng·keng | ‘poō·kehng·kehng | ] is the slang for pussy, a contraction of “puke” and “kerengkeng” meaning a woman of loose morals.

There’s your lesson for the day, one step closer to becoming a cunning linguist.