# Sagupa



## rockjon

I think sagupa means encounter, collision or clash in general in English. However, it's not extremely clear what type of collision or clash the word refers to. One of my tagalog books uses it in the sense of an automotive collision. I know that normally the word bangga is used.  

The recent news about an explosion at the recent bar exams uses it in the fight sense:
Kung away lang ang hanap bakit hindi na lang magpunta sa isang lugar na walang tao, walang media, walang makikialam at doon na lang magsagupaan, para matapos na?
If it's only a fight they are looking for, why didn't they just go to a place where there's no people, no media, no one to interfere, and there they should have just have clashed with each other so that they would be done with it.

I know in the above fight sense the word, laban is normally used.  What are the ways and contexts you can use the word sagupa? Thanks in advance.


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## DotterKat

As used in your Tagalog text above, *sagupa* / *sagupaan* / *magsagupaan* more properly refers to a *rumble* (a street fight, especially between some rival groups) and therefore should be used in a similar context.


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## rockjon

Thanks for the reply. Does sagupa also work in any situation where there is a collision or something collides like a car accident?


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## DotterKat

Strictly speaking, no. You would rather say "*Nagbanggaan* ang dalawang kotse." However, in figurative writing anything goes -- in a manner of speaking, you can let your mind "take flight".  For example, in describing the fight sequences of the movie "Transformers", one might say:

*Nagbanggaan* at *nagsagupaan* ang mga trak at kotse sa ilalim ng tulay.

(The essential implication is that *banggaan* generally refers to a collision of masses incapable of willful motion while *sagupaan* implies a melee, or collision between groups fully intending such an act.)


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