kalapating mababa ang lipad

Literally, “low-flying dove; dove whose flight is low”. The prostitutes came to be called as such from the name of a red-light district called Palomar, now a part of Tutuban, Tondo, Manila, which the Spanish authorities used as a detention place for prostitutes sentenced to be exiled or deported to Palawan.

Palomar is named from Spanish palomar (“dovecote; pigeon house; small house or box, often raised to a considerable height above the ground”). Hence, prostitutes at the “dovecote” are the “doves” or palomas in Spanish. Calque of Spanish palomas de bajo vuelo (“dove of low flight”).

• (Standard Tagalog) IPA^(key): /kalaˌpatiŋ maˌbabaʔ ʔaŋ liˈpad/ [kɐ.lɐˌpaː.t̪ɪŋ mɐˌbaː.bɐʔ ʔɐn̪ lɪˈpad̪̚]
  • IPA^(key): (with glottal stop elision) /kalaˌpatiŋ maˌbaba(ʔ) ʔaŋ liˈpad/ [kɐ.lɐˌpaː.t̪ɪŋ mɐˌbaː.baː ʔɐn̪ lɪˈpad̪̚]
• Rhymes: -ad
• Syllabification: ka‧la‧pa‧ting ma‧ba‧ba ang li‧pad

kalapating mababà ang lipád (Baybayin spelling ᜃᜎᜉᜆᜒᜅ᜔ ᜋᜊᜊ ᜀᜅ᜔ ᜎᜒᜉᜇ᜔) (figurative, euphemistic)

1. prostitute

   Synonyms: puta, pokpok, (euphemistic) kalapati, ibong mababa ang lipad