An
Article on the Evolution of Filipino Slang
By Hannah Padilla
“Yo bebs, u g for
a hohol tomo?”
While the rain pours and rings loudly on the pavement
outside my house, I can barely hear my phone chime beside my dinner plate as I swallow
and chew, indefinitely stuck in an eating haze. In my distractedness, I don’t
notice my father peer over my shoulder and lay his eyes hungrily on my phone.
Spooning a mouthful of sinigang into
my mouth, I finally notice my dad glancing at the preview of my text message and
hastily turn my phone over. I smiled smugly as my dad asked me what a ‘hohol’ was, feeling as if my friend’s
colorful and extensive use of Filipino slang rendered me a special, private
language—that wasn’t only used by me, of course. Surprisingly, most of the
Filipino youth are well informed about the ins and outs of Filipino slang and swardspeak. I’m left laughing as my
forty-eight year old father is left in the dark.
“Kk bbg. Text me
the deets later.”
A private, secret language indeed—shared and spoken by
over a million teenagers in seven thousand one hundred seven islands.
✤
But what really is this “secret” language? The answer
would be: slang. For many people,
slang, not only limited to Filipino slang, is an informal part of a language
used in casual speech and/or digital communication. On more technical terms—aka
Merriam Webster’s dictionary—it is defined as “words that are not considered
part of the standard vocabulary of a language and that are used very informally
in speech especially by a particular group of people.” On technical on
UrbanDictionary.com, a website that contains thousands of definitions for modern
English contemporary language, it is “The ever-evolving bastardization of the
written and spoken language as a result of social and cultural idolization of
uneducated, unintelligible celebrities.” In summary, all languages have their
own branch of slang. It is basically a facet or a communal dialect of a language.
Just like everything else, however, one constant of
all languages is that they are prone to change—bound to evolve. Which leads us
to wonder: How different was slang in the past from the present, really? From
the existence of words like ‘bebs’ and
‘g’ which were not used in
actualization until 2011, we can tell that they were obviously not the same.
There have been several words added to the dictionary of Filipino slang within
three years, and forty decades will surely lead to the addition of more than a
hundred. This leads us to believe that there is no doubt that Filipino slang
has indeed been evolving alongside the Filipino language over this period of
time.
Obviously, not everyone (especially the generations
above us) is familiar with this newly evolved and transformed version of
Filipino slang, and at the same time, not everyone promotes it. Some younger
teachers like Ms. Cherry-Ann Claveria, a Social Studies teacher in Assumption
College, are happy to learn the in’s and outs of the evolved language, while
others, like Mrs. Emy Bitancor, the academic coordinator of Filipino also in
Assumption College, dislike even hearing it being used. “It lets me understand
what the youth thinks and how they behave based on the words that they speak,”
Ms.Claveria said, after being asked why she wanted to learn more about “teh’s”
and “g’s.” “I think it’s important
having words that separate you from the older crowd. You get to identify
yourself with your peers when you speak those slang words.”
On the other hand, there are still people who condone
it. “Kung ganito ang gagawin natin sa
ating sariling salita malaki ang posibilidad na mamatay na kusa ang sarili
nating wika,” Mrs. Bitancor answered. “Sa
ganito ring pagkakataon ang ganda at tamang gamit ng ating salita ay
makakalimutan ng gamitin.” Through this mix and match of reactions,
however, it is still important to note that Filipino slang, as a facet of the
language, is important to communication—and that in communication, it’s
essential that we understand each other. Although there are several people who
prefer not to use Filipino slang, there are still a number of adults out there
who are tired of our “Anyare’s” and “Ansabe’s” and want to understand what a
“HOHOL” is, one of them being my
father--but even the youth want to know what an "utol" is so they could add it to their slang vocabulary. So without further ado and as a summary of a
survey conducted among two hundred fifty people, mga bebs, I present to
you the top tens in past and present Filipino slang.
G? G.
The Top Ten Filipino Slang Words of the Youth
The Top Ten Filipino Slang Words of the Past
Dear Diary, today,
June 5, 1984, was my first day of school in the Philippines since I came home
from the US last month. I find it funny how they they call me amboy (a
contraction of American boy) here, but I’ll get used to the culture sometime
soon. People in my class are so bagets (young)—I think I looked older than
everyone; I’m definitely much taller. Since I was new and the tallest in class,
they made me sit at the back with this bonjing (a teenage or adult male acting like a
child ). He wore shorts and a jumper, just like my 5-year-old brother! He was
nice though; he kept on calling me chong (friend)which made me feel better and more
at home. Oh! I also have to tell you about this one girl who’s also new in
class: she was so japorms (stylish in clothing) but still a bebot (young girl). I felt like
talking to her but I was so dyahe (shy). When I got home, I told Ermats and Erpats (mother and father) that I found this girl
very pretty but they both said I was baduy (out of style) for liking her and not doing anything
to personally know her. My, I wish my utol (brother and/or male friend) came home with
me. He would’ve been so ready to help me with my girl problems.
The Top Ten Withstanding Filipino Slang Words
"Direk,
can we take a break?" asked Vice Ganda, the leading lady of the film Direk
Joey was heading. All of a sudden, the director stood up and shouted "Deins (not/no)
pweds (possible)!
All of you are making me badtrip (a feeling of being in a bad mood).
How
can we make this movie astig (great) if you keep on complaining?" Vice
Ganda retaliated: "Direk, I’m not complaining. It’s just that everyone is
tired. Since we’ve been doing the same scene for hours, the actors for the other
scenes are already petiks (doing nothing).” She glanced pointedly at
Piolo, the leading man. Director Joey then faced her and explained, "I don’t
want to be sawi (loser;
someone who is always longing for something) again, Vice. I want to win an
award! Don’t you want to win one too?" She replied, "Direk, ewan (I don’t
know) ko with you! You’re being so jologs (tacky), doing this only for that. We’re
not working too hard for you." Vice Ganda walked out and slammed the door
behind her, while Director Joey sat down in tears. Piolo approached him
cautiously and began comforting him. "That’s okay, pare (male friend), let’s go and get
some toma (beer)
instead." Director Joey and Piolo
then walked out holding hands.
✤
As we can see from the thirty words used and defined
in the situations above, language is such an important part of culture. The
evolution of Filipino slang as part of the Filipino language is a signifier
that our nation is indeed changing and developing alongside it. Who would’ve
thought that utol could develop into pare? Or that in the long run, swardspeak, from being bashed, would be
welcomed, even promoted, in our language? That there would be a large
popularization of contractions and abbreviations at present because we are
digital natives, spending most of our time chatting and texting? Filipinos have
a knack of wanting things to be more convenient, and this is no doubt one of
the reasons why Filipino slang is so widely used. Bernie Pingol, an ex-Filipino
honors student in Ateneo High School who is now a college freshman, said that
“[Filipino Slang] makes conversations easier and more
casual!” He also addressed another possible reason why slang could have evolved.
“It makes conversations modernized and fit for the context of everyday, kasi not everything is bagay or fit for the usual, old, formal words
anymore.”
At the same time, Filipino slang also introduces to
us the newly developed cultures that propel us into new values and beliefs. For
one, the Filipinos have delved into a culture of acceptance, equality and non-bias. The acceptance of homosexuality
and differences in background are clearly reflected in the propagation of all
slang, including swardspeak, instead
of it being bashed or ridiculed. At the same time, slang chooses no one—from
the conyos to the kanto boys, it is evident that it is spoken
by majority of Filipinos from all walks of life.
Lastly, the use of Filipino slang reintroduces
the Filipino language to the youth, encouraging us to speak it more fluently
and more often. “In my own experience and use of the [Filipino slang] words, they
would have multiple meanings to me and my friends,” said Bernie. “So we
basically get the gist of what each other's saying and we understand Filipino
terms a lot more.” Hearing your friends say, “Hohol tayo sa Kagawaran ng Filipino para tayo ay makagawa ng ating
takdang-aralin!” will make you want to speak and understand our language
more, wouldn’t it?
Through all these points, we can
really see that Filipino slang in itself is a dialect of the language, and its
propagation signals the beginning of new cultures and eras. Although a
seemingly satire topic, the use of Filipino slang can really tell us a lot
about how our culture has changed developed. Through the great differences and
similarities between the Filipino slang then and now, there are still a number
of words that bridge the past with the present, which shows us that Filipino
slang really is a facet of our culture that we cannot shake off. Kk mga bebs?
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