The "Optimus Prime" of Gay Language

  Chuk chak chienes. Chika. Ching. Chenelin. Etchos. Etchoserang palakang kokak. These are just some of the words in gay languages across time. From parlor talk to entertainment talk and now, becoming part of the mainstream talk for some high schools and colleges and industries such as the call center industry, gay lingo is one variety of language that is as interesting as French, as old school as Latin, as romantic as Spanish and as both simple and complex as the lingua franca of the world, the English language.

According to the field of sociolinguistics, the human society is made up of many related patterns and behaviors, some of which are linguistic. One of the principal uses of language is to communicate meaning, but it is also used to establish and to maintain social relationships. For the sociolinguist, the most important verity is that a language --- any language --- is full of systematic variation, variation that can only be accounted for by appealing, outside language, to socially relevant forces and facts. The existence of patterned variation in language makes it possible to identify ourselves and others as belonging to certain groups (Spolsky 1998). One of the varieties of language is the Gay Lingo. 

Gay Lingo is gay speak, gaylese or gay talk. Sometimes, it is also referred to as fag-lang, gay slang or fag-lish. In short, gay lingo is the homosexual vernacular (http://www.definition-of.com/gaylingo, N.d.).

According to Julia P. Stanley and Susan J. Wolfe (1979) in the book, “Sexist Slang and the Gay Community: Are You One, Too?” as cited by Definition-of.com:

Such specialized languages quickly identify the members of a group to each other, provide them with a system for expressing concepts and values inherent and unique to the group, and exclude non-members. Our data indicate that the values perpetrated by "gay" slang are those of a heterosexist, patriarchal society in which homophobia is the "norm", that the terms that constitute the "gay" vocabulary serve the interests and expressive needs of males …

These statements were supported by Casabal (2008) in his article, “Gay language: Defying the structural limits of English language in the Philippines”. He said that “sexual orientation has become a moral, philosophical, and social issue of acceptability. Homosexuals have become victims of condemnation --- in school, at the workplace, in church or elsewhere”. He further noted that the role of gay speak is “for gay people in the Philippines ... to shield themselves from the chasm and the social stigma caused by gender differences” (74).

            Language is continually changing. Like all other languages and its varieties, gay has a rich and colorful background and some history. The some is emphasized because no one can really account for the completeness of the history of gay lingo in the Philippines. There were attempts to document the changes in gay lingo across time and the varieties across provinces or cities, but it was just too big a task to do plus the fact that the changes happen fast, it is almost impossible to monitor the variations.

            However, for this paper, I attempted to document a portion of the history of gay lingo: the gay lingo around 30 years ago and its current state. This case study aimed to:

1)    Find out the common gay words that existed 30 years ago and at present

2)    Determine and compare the background of the words in terms of the rules and references

This case study shall be of significance to heterosexuals who are somehow lost in deciphering and understanding gays and their language. This shall also be useful to gays from the different age groups and locales when communicating with each other, especially with gays who do not belong to the same locale or age group. After all, the purpose of language and communication is to foster understanding between and among communicators involved in the process. Since gay lingo these days is being used not only by gays but of females and some males, understanding some of the words used in the lingo can connect most of the speakers of the mainstream language to those who speak the gay lingo.

Gay in this paper only meant the homosexual male. Gay refers to the people, especially to men, and the practices and cultures associated with homosexuality. It is also used to describe the people attracted to members of the same sex (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gay, N.d.). And gay lingo refers to the variety of language primarily used and popularized by male gays. This paper dealt with the languages that are expressed orally. This did not deal with the non-verbal communication associated with gays. 

This paper used Kenneth Burke's Theory of Identification (Littlejohn and Foss 2008, 114). According to Burke, there are things that are catergorized under “action” and “motion”. Action consists of purposeful, voluntary behaviors and motions are nonpurposeful, nonmeaningful ones. He added that people are symbol-creating, symbol-using and symbol-misusing animals. People use symbols to initiate or participate in the communication process. Since they use symbols, also known as language, these are open to a lot of meaning and interpretation that oftentimes may be misconstrued by the participants of the process. In fact, language may also be misused by the source of the message, not just the receivers.

Burke (Littlejohn and Foss,115) also emphasized that, “Language is always emotionally loaded. No word can be neutral. As a result, your attitudes, judgments and feelings invariably appear in the language you use”. Every word that an individual chooses to use in any given situation is rich in culture, emotion and experience. This paper showed that the lingo a gay speaks is influenced by the educational background, the age, the locale and other factors surrounding the speaker.

“Language is by nature selective and abstract, focusing attention on particular aspects of reality at the expense of other aspects” (115). Here it is shown the aspects of reality that some of the gay words were based. Burke also stated that language can bring people together or can divide them. In this case study, it was discovered that for most gays, their lingo is a unifying factor. However, it is also seen by the people who do not speak it, as a dividing factor. Burke also introduced the element of consubstantiality which is sharing meanings for the language in use. The factors leading to consubstantiality were also discussed in the background of the gay words.

There are 3 overlapping sources of identification according to Burke. These are the: 1) Material Identification which results from goods, possessions and things, 2) Idealistic Identification which results from shared ideas, attitudes, feelings and values, and 3) Formal Identification which results from the arrangement, form, or organization of an event, in which both parties participate. This paper also mentioned in passing some of the sources of identification of the gays based on the background of the gay words.

This case study employed 2 gay interlocutors. One of the interlocutors is Waylynne Tuazon, a 52-year old gay. He is a Nurse Therapist, a Midwife, Teacher and a Speech Trainer. Waylynne discovered that he is gay when he was still a toddler. As a young boy, he was fond of playing with girl stuff with his female playmates. This continued on during his grade school days where he would usually play as mother, or the cook and the disciplinarian in role playing games with playmates. This persisted during puberty which he called as his “awakening”. It was during this time that he had his ultimate crush and his first love, although, he said he had his “homosexual confirmation” when he was 28 years old.

The term “homosexual confirmation” came from sexologists Masters and Johnsons’ definition of a gay or homosexual. According to Masters and Johnsons, a man needs to have sex with a fellow man, 6 times, and like it, for him to be considered as a full-fledged gay or homosexual.

According to Waylynne, he belonged to the elite gay community. He didn’t use a lot of gay language when he was younger, except only when he was with his gay friends who work in the parlor. He was a teacher then and was required to use the mainstream language because of his profession. During his time also, gays were kind of “moralists”. They would reprimand a fellow gay who would have a montessori boyfriend. They didn’t have a term for a young, handsome boy then because those were off limits. 

Here is the list of words most commonly used by gays 30 years ago.

WORD	MEANING	USAGE / BACKGROUND
Kever	What’s happening? What do you care?	Spanish word that means “Let me see”
-ism	A suffix added to any word or name, to disguise the topic of the conversation	This has a negative connotation and usually used to describe someone that is hated by the speakers. A sentence with an –ism is delivered fast.
Hombre	A man	Spanish word meaning “man”
Mujer	A gay that looks like a lady	Spanish word meaning “lady”
Mujeran	An event where everybody shows up in drag outfit	-do-
Mujerista	A gay man that uses bra or female clothing in public	-do-
Montessori	A young boy, usually 14 years old below	-do-
Imbyerna, Im	Annoyed	No data from source
Lamierda	Look for men or cruise for men	Spanish word meaning “going around"
Hala	Look for men usually for sexual encounter	No data from source
Laila Dee	Lying down	Used to describe a male who just lied down during a sexual encounter; from a celebrity Laila Dee
Ganda mo	Used only “beauty” to attract men	A gay used only his beauty to snag a man, as most gays would use money to have a boyfriend or a sexual partner
Anda, datung	Money	No data from source
Anda Lucia	A gay who gave so much  money but the man wasn’t very participative in the sexual encounter	Anda meaning “money” and Lucia, to lose from the sound of “lose”
Atcheng	A gay person	From the Chinese term, atchi meaning ate or older sister
Yolanda Guevarra	Heavy rain	From the term, “giba”, guevarra. Yolanda Guevarra is also a celebrity
Appearance lang	Uses only touch	No data from source
Mahadera	Highly opinionated	No data from source
Dakota Harrison	A well-endowed man in size and length	Dakota for the size Harrison for the length, based on the long street, F.B. Harrison in Metro Manila
Mating [mäting]	Taking someone else’s things for fun	No data from source
Matinggera	A person who indulges in taking someone else’s things for fun	No data from source
Ella	Horny	From the initial letter “L” in the Filipino term libog
Cadera	Additional hips	From the Spanish word, cadera which means hips
Bona	Househelp	Based on Nora Aunor’s movie of the same title where she played a househelp
Cinderella	A pretty, yet stow away gay person who serves as househelp of another gay	From the fairytale, Cinderella
Maila Guimila	Personal Assistant	An actress who usually played as sidekick in Sharon Cuneta’s movies
Cooking up with Nora Daza	Cheating in beauty pageants	Based on Nora Daza’s cooking show title: Luto is sometimes used to mean cheating the scores (of a contest, etc.) in favor of someone to win
Navarete	A gay person with prominent muscles, usually with an ugly face	From Navarete, an infamous boxer
Cadillac	To walk	From the initial syllable of lakad, Lak as in Cadillac.

Another interlocutor for this study is Mikee. Mikee is a 21-year old Online IELTS Instructor who was born in Daraga, Albay but raised and grew up in Pio Duran, Albay. He had inkling that he was gay when he was still in grade school. He had a self-confirmation that he was indeed gay when he was in 3rd year high. He told his family and friends about it though only when he reached 4th year high.

When he was in grade school, he said that he was in denial. His family are devout Catholics. He also has an uncle that is a priest. And in their home, his family and relatives would refer to gays as “sinful” or makasalanan. His dad is also the Deputy Chief of Police in their town and his mom, a respected teacher. He said, these were the factors that contributed to his coming out only in 4th year high school. In fact when he told his parents about his sexuality over lunch, his mom said that he was not gay but a bisexual. Mikee told his mom that he was not a bisexual but gay. His dad accepted his homosexuality but gave him his limitations in showing his “gayness”. According to his father, he can be gay but he should be a disenteng bakla or a decent gay. 

When he was in 3rd year high school, he had a girlfriend, but he found himself having a crush or he was infatuated with his bestfriend. His bestfriend is a fellow CAT officer and something happened to them when they were in 3rd year high school. After that incident, Mikee stopped playing basketball. He mentioned that this was his conversion or transition stage.

            After he came out, Mikee said that there was a change in the way he walked, he spoke and he acted, in general. He didn’t speak gay language immediately after his coming out though. He only spoke gay language when he was in college in Bicol University. The reason for this was that he was still trying to find his clique as gay and maybe trying to find out how people would react to his being gay.

            Now that he is working in Metro Manila, somehow, gay lingo has become the mainstream talk amongst his friends. He doesn’t use gay lingo at work because it’s not allowed, but when he is out on a gimmick or just having some conversation with acquaintances and friends, he uses the language. Even in his Facebook page, his statuses are mostly in gay lingo. Even in writing his blog, he uses it. He said that in his group of friends, most understand the language. However, there are some who don’t but just ride on with the conversation and would just ask for clarifications later on.

According to Mikee, there are really a lot of varieties even of the gay lingo itself. One example is that, Legazpeños would speak the lingo in a more polished manner. The words are sanitized and more demure. The Manileños, on the other hand, would speak in a more direct language even to the point of being vulgar.

Here are the some of the current frequently used gay words according to Mikee.

WORD	MEANING	USAGE / BACKGROUND
Anek-anek	Anything	From ano-ano in Filipino
Boom boom ley	Expression that shows excitement	From the sound of the drums that denotes the rhythm of excitement
Mhinora	A guy but of minor age	From the English word, minor
Yummhinora	A handsome guy but of minor age	From the English words yummy and minor
Eklaver, ekla-eklakan	An expression usually used when one cannot describe the situation or thing with the appropriate word	No data from source
Awra	Sex	No data from source
Merlat	Referring to a female’s vagina	From the Filipino word, belat. Belat because gays are not attracted to this thing
Paminta	Bisexual	From the terms, pa and men. Pa is a Filipino informal prefix that means an intention to do something. Pa-men meaning trying to pass as a real man.
Becky, Beckyroo, Bekimon	Bisexual	Becky is nickname for a female
Bonak, bona	A child	From anak, a Filipino term for a child.
Jongga, jonggels	Lavish, spectacular	From the Filipino term, bongga
Dalmatian	A lot, many	Dami, 101 dalmatians
Manena	Good friend	Character in a TV show
Pimpie	Pimples
Haydenar	Discreet sa sex	From Vicki Belo's infamous ex-boyfriend and a doctor, Hayden Co
Lucifera	Ugly; but fair complexion	From Lucifer
Marianek	Palaaway	From celebrity Marian Rivera who was always on the news few years back because of her quarrelsome attitude towards fans and other celebrities
Sistereta	Beautiful sister	From sister and Gretchen Baretto who is popularly known in the showbiz industry as La Greta
Kuyani	Physically or emotionally hurtful older brother	From the Filipino term, kuya, an older brother and kulani, a swollen lymph node that is painful
Lolita	Laughing out loud, funny	From the internet acronym, LOL; also in reference to a  famous fashion star of Japan with a weird fashion sense
Smellanine Johnston	Having a bad stench	From Johnson's and Johnsons, a popular brand of baby and beauty products
Monelya	Money	From the English term, money

Based on the interviews and the list of words and their background, the following conclusions were culled.

The words featured celebrity references in both old and current gay lingo. These included Laila Dee, Maila Guimila, Marrianek, Sistereta and Lolita. Of course, the popular celebrities of the times are the ones used as reference. There was no distinction however, as to how they use the reference. Some were based on the roles they played in the movies like Maila Guimila, and some in their personality, like that of Marianek, Lolita and Greta.

The old gay lingo was mostly based on Spanish words, although the meaning, when used in the gay lingo context is not always the same. This is because 30 years ago, Spanish was a required subject in universities and colleges. Currently, gay words are based on the sounds they create and signify, such as boom boom ley and ching.

Surprisingly, the interview with my young interlocutor, was not very productive as he was not aware of the background of most words. In fact, he needed to ask a friend of the background and usage. He said that he is not aware and it didn’t cross his mind to discover the background and origin of the words he commonly uses. He explained that he just echoes whatever it is that he hears from his friends.

            In the past, gay lingo was exclusively used by gays, especially those working in the parlor and the entertainment industry. However, these days, gay lingo is spoken by a lot of people, in varied professions. This is because our society is already open with the presence of gays in most professions. The exclusivity of the language is decreased, but a lot of people still use it, even the females, since most men don’t understand and speak the language. Men, the real men, after all, are mostly the topic of conversation of the gays and females.

            Gay language, according to Remoto as cited by Casabal (2008), “is forever advent, forever beginning, forever new”. This is the reason, one of my interlocutors Waylynne, does not speak the current gay lingo. He could not keep up with the fastness of the turnover of words used. Mikee, on the other hand, was lost when a list of old gay words were mentioned. There is a generation-gap amongst gay, in terms of the language they use.

The data from related readings mentioned that gay language is used by gays as protection for themselves in a patriarchal society. Data from both sources revealed that discrimination was not an issue to them and was not the reason they use the gay language. They use it to express themselves and to belong in their group of gay friends.

Gay lingo is one of the most interesting varieties of language. It may be hard to decipher most of the time, but that is its essence. The rules, syntax and usage are hard to document and varies from one locale to another but once an individual knows of the basic rules, he can understand it based on context clues.

The trick in learning and understanding the gay lingo is to be updated with current events, celebrities, and the entertainment industry, in general. Yes, it is indeed hard work, just like any other form of language acquisition. It also needs practice, just like any other skill. One has to learn fast, otherwise, his efforts may be put to waste as he may already be learning a dead language with the fast turnover of gay words.

R  E  F  E  R  E  N  C  E  S

Books

Littlejohn, Stephen W. and Karen A. Foss. (2008). Theories of Human Communication, 9th ed.. CA: Thomson and Wadsworth.

Spolsky, Bernard (1998). Sociolinguistics. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Online Sources

Casabal, Norberto V. (2008). Gay language: Defying the structural limits of English language in the Philippines. Retrieved on March 5, 2011, from http://150.ateneo.edu/kritikakultura/images/pdf/kk11/gay.pdf.

Farlex. Community Dictionary – Gay lingo. Retrieved on March 29, 2011, from http://www.definition-of.com/gay%20lingo.

Githinji, Francis. (N.d.) My perception of homosexuality in the community. Retrieved on March 5, 2011, from http://www.ezinearticles.com.

Ice Queen. (2008). Retrieved on March 5, 2011, from http://philippines-butchokoy.blogspot.com/2008/11/gay-lingo-made-in-philippines.htmlGay Lingo (made in the philippines).

Psychology Glossary. (N.d.) Retrieved on March 5, 2011, from http://www.alleydog.com/glossary/definition.

 The Free Dictionary. (N.d.) Retrieved on January 6, 2011, from http://thefreedictionary.com.

Topaz Girl. (2008). Amped Asia Forum. Retrieved on March 5, 2011, from http://www.ampedasia.com/forums/filipino-gay-lingo-t-10957.html.