Only in the Philippines - Jenogels

Gay A : “Hoy, Bakla, me That’s Entertainment ka ba?”
Gay B : “Naku, Washington Sycip. Purita Kalaw ang lolah mo ngayon”
Gay A : “Rampa sana aketch. Go Bingo ka, ate?”
Gay B : “ Ayyyy, Wishing, Pagoda Cold Wave Lotion ako.”

Everyone who got what they were saying, raise your hands!

It is true. The propagation of this form of communication is unstoppable. Once the not-so-secret language of homosexuals; gay lingo is no longer exclusive to gays much to our divas dismay. From its grassroots beginnings in obscure parlors around the city it has infiltrated the tri-media and is now being spoken or understood or both by every Juan, Juana, Nene and Boy in the Philippines.

Almost everyone can now speak this once hard to break “gay code of communication”. Well, at least those who will shamelessly and unabashedly admit to it. No one it seems is excluded from the allure of this lingo that is funny and irreverent at the same time. It has become some kind of a secret guilty pleasure.

The first time I heard a gay lingo infused conversation back in 1996, I was confused. I couldn’t get the drift. I was clueless. I was then working in a gay dominated business - entertainment what else - but everyone else seemed to be speaking in this queer tongue; straight men included. To be “in”, one with the family, with the group, you have to speak like one of them. So, I did my part and learned the lessons. In that world, you have to be sharp, witty and fast-thinking. Gay words and terms are being born every minute and thrown from every corner of the room that you have to catch up quickly or forever be lost in the labyrinth. With the right attitude and perseverance, I was gay speaking my way to work in just a few months.

“Pakia-abot ng chuva.”
“Ay, redo the lay-out, Chaka Khan!”
“Josko, ang CR hindi na-flush ha ma-Panjee Gonzales.”
“Hoy, i-ready na ang pang-Janno Gibbs sa press ha”
“Anong oras na ba, Tom Jones na ako e”

If you think about it, gay lingo is nothing but a hilarious play of words. They just add something to the Filipino root word like “Gu”-Tom Jones to mean hungry. Others are just twisted to fit a new meaning like Chaka Khan to mean ugly. Most are just spur of the moment word inventions they decided could be good enough to fill a gap in conversation like chuva and chenes or maybe to define an indescribable event or happening such as ek-ek.

But if you REALLY think about it, it takes intelligence, wit, creativity and a vast knowledge of important and trivial things alike to be able to come up with such terms. Do you know who Menchu Menchaca is? Or Carmen Patena? Do you know where Dakota Harrison is? It takes talent I may say to coin new words that will not only make you laugh but think very hard. Words that are fresh and original. Thought of not in days but in a heartbeat.

To the divas of the lingo, I am but a beginner too, like you. I have much to learn. But my priceless association and friendships with the queer folks and with the help of the internet, I have a vocabulary every newbie would want to have.

• · Anik / Anetch — ano (what) / which
• · Balaj — balahura (shameless)
• · Bitter Ocampo — malungkot (sad) / nagngingitngit (fuming mad) / bitter
• · Baklah / Baklush — used instead of one’s name, may refer to any gender
• · Givency / Janno Gibbs / Debbie Gibson — bigay (to give)
• · That’s Entertainment / Anda / Andalucia / Anju / Anjo Yllaña — datung (money)
• · Fatale — sobra (excessive) / to the max
• · Feel / Fillet o’ Fish — type / gusto / natipuhan (like)
• · Fly — alis (leave)
• · Forever — palagi (always) / matagal / mabagal (slow)
• · Pagoda Cold Wave Lotion — pagod (tired)
• · Washington / Wishing / Wish — wala (nothing or none)
• · Chanda Romero — tiyan (tummy)
• · Mahalia Jackson — mahal (expensive)
• · Kuya Germs — madumi (dirty) / bearer of germs
• · Lucresia Kasilag — lukaret / baliw (crazy)
• · Lucita Soriano — loser na sorry pa
• · Luz Valdez — matalo (to lose)
• · Winnie Santos — manalo (to win)
• · Award — pinagalitan / pinagsabihan (reprimanded)
• · Freestyle — slow makagets (to understand) / slow
• · Imbey / Im — imbyerna (irritation)
• · Jowa / Jowabelles / Jowabella — karelasyon / BF or GF
• · Kape / Capuccino / Coffeemate — magising ka sa katotohanan (be realistic)
• · Lupita Kashiwahara — malupit (cruel)
• · Rita Gomez — nakaka-irita (irritating personality)
• · Enter the Dragon / Entourage — pasok (to enter) / come in
• · Julie Andrew / Jolina Magdangal — mahuli (caught in the act)
• · Antibiotic — antipatika (bitch)
• · 48 Years / 50 Golden Years / 10,000 — matagal (after a long time)
• · Crayola — iyak (to cry)
• · Thundercats / Chandeliers / Masyonda — matanda (old people)
• · Wrangler — gurang (also means old)
• · Jubis / Juba — taba (fatso)
• · Jutay / Jutes — maliit (small)
• · Kangkang — sex
• · Reyna Elena — ulan (to rain)
• · X-Men — dating lalaki (formerly a man) now gay
• · Morayta / Murriah Carrey — mura (cheap)
• · Pamintang Durog / Pamenthols — closet gays / acting as men
• · Backstreet Boys — cute boys at the back
• · Chiminey Cricket — chimay (maid)
• · Goodbye Suklay — goodbye
• · Fayatollah Kumenis — payat (skinny)
• · Anaconda — ahas (a snake) / traitor
• · Anong petsa na? — asked when someone is taking too long to dress up, etc.
• · Charing/Tienes — jest / a joke / not serious
• · Kaplang — mali (error) / mistake
• · Barbra Streisand / Barbara Perez — bara / binara (bluntly rejected)
• · Regal Drama Hour / Maalala Mo Kaya — when someone tells a sob story
• _______, ikaw ba yan? — when someone acts like another
  person, maybe a showbiz personality or not. (example: Vilma Santos, Ikaw Ba yan?)
• · Purita Kalaw — walang pera (broke) / mahirap (poor)
• · Rica Peralejo — mayaman (rich, from the Spanish word rica)
• · Chova / Chovaline Kyle — chika lang (small talk)
• · Cookie Chua / Cookie Monster — magluto (to cook)
• · Clasmarurut / Klasmarurut — classmate
• · Cynthia Luster — hindi kilalang babae o lalake (unknown she or he)
• · Daot — insulto (insult)
• · Eksena / Eksenadora — mahilig pumapel / mahilig sumabat (someone who always likes to figure in a scene)
• · Emote — mag-inarte pa rin (one who is over-acting)
• · Karir/Career — sineryoso ang isang bagay like BF or work (to be seriously involved)
• · Lafang — kain (eat)
• · Lapel — malakas ang boses (someone with a loud voice)
• · Carry / Keri / Cash & Carry — sige (OK or alright)
• · Cathy Dennis — “makati” (frisky) or promiscuous
• · Char / Charot / Charing / Charbroiled — not ok
• · Liberty / Statue of Liberty — libre (free)
• · Okray — paninirang puri (criticize)
• · Lucky Home Partner — live-in partner
• · In Fairness — pampalubag loob (to console)
• · Compared to Lugaw — kesa wala (better than nothing)

Blame it on the ‘Parlor-ista gays”. Blame it on those showbiz writers. Blame it on those rampant showbiz talk shows. Blame it on the bar girls of Manila even. But truth be told, gay lingo/swardspeak/gayspeak is now in the mainstream of Filipino consciousness and communication and shows no sign of fading. As every day, a new term is coined, the vocabulary expands and may one day grow into a language on its own.

• · pera (money) anda, andalu, anjo yllana, okane, atik, datong
• · ako (I, me) watashi
• · wala (none, nothing) wiz, waz, mitchels
• · gutom (hungry) tommy lee jones, tom jones
• · mataray (bitchy) tarush, chabaka, kabog
• · laitin (to insult) okray
• · ina, nanay (mother) mudra
• · libre (free) liberty, paroch
• · kain (eat) lafang
• · maliit (small) jutay
• · mataba (fat) jubis, mashoba
• · mukha (face) fez
• · iyak (cry) crayola
• · baduy (cheap) chipangga
• · ano (what) anik, anitch

On that note, I suggest you print this article and keep it in your pocket. The next time you’re in the Philippines, bring it out with your English-Filipino Translation booklet. Believe me, you will thank me later.