Swardspeak (also known as salitang bakla (lit. 'gay speak') or "gay lingo") or Bekinese, is an argot or cant slang derived from Taglish (Tagalog-English code-switching) and used by a number of LGBT people in the Philippines.
Description Swardspeak uses elements from Tagalog, English, Spanish, and some from Japanese, as well as celebrities' names and trademark brands, giving them new meanings in different contexts. It is largely localized within gay communities, making use of words derived from the local languages, including Cebuano, Hiligaynon, Kapampangan, Pangasinan, Waray and Bicolano.
Usage A defining trait of swardspeak slang is that it more often than not immediately identifies the speaker as homosexual, making it easy for people of that orientation to recognize each other. This creates an exclusive group among its speakers and helps them resist cultural assimilation. More recently, even non-members of the gay community have been known to use this way of speaking, e.g. heterosexual members of industries with a significant amount of gay workers such as the fashion and film industries.
Swardspeak as a language is constantly changing, with old phrases becoming obsolete and new phrases frequently entering everyday usage, reflecting changes in their culture and also maintaining exclusivity. The dynamic nature of the language refuses to cement itself in a single culture and allows for more freedom of expression among its speakers. Words and phrases can be created to react to popular trends and create alternatives to a strictly defined lifestyle. By these characteristics, swardspeak creates a dissident group without any ties to geographical, linguistic, or cultural restrictions, allowing its speakers to shape the language as they see fit, with relation to current times. In this way, the language is not only "mobile" and part of a larger community, but also open to more specific or local meanings and interpretations.
Origin The word "swardspeak", according to José Javier Reyes, was coined by columnist and film critic Nestor Torre in the 1970s. Reyes himself wrote a book on the subject entitled Swardspeak: A Preliminary Study. "Sward" is an outdated slang for 'gay male' in the Philippines. The origin of the individual words and phrases, however, has existed longer and come from a variety of sources. Conventions Swardspeak is a form of slang (and therefore highly dynamic, as opposed to colloquialisms) that is built upon preexisting languages. It deliberately transforms or creates words that resemble words from other languages, particularly English, Japanese, Chinese, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German. It is colorful, witty, and humorous, with vocabularies derived from popular culture and regional variations. It is unintelligible to people not familiar with the Filipino gay culture or who do not know the rules of usage. There is no standardized set of rules, but some of the more common conventions are shown below:
Replacing the first letter/syllable of words with the letter "J"/"Sh" or the syllables "Jo-"/"Sho-" or "Ju-"/"Shu-".
SwardspeakOriginal wordLanguage of originJowa (variant diminutive: Jowabelle/Jowabels)Asawa (spouse, usually female)Tagalog, Cebuano, HiligaynonJombaTabâ (fat)TagalogGora (variant diminutive: Gorabelle/Gorabels)to go (to a place)EnglishShupatembang, Shupated, JupiterKapatíd (sibling)TagalogShungaTangá (idiot)Tagalog, Cebuano, HiligaynonJulalayAlalay (assistant)Tagalog
Replacing the first letter/syllable of words with "Ky-" or "Ny-".
SwardspeakOriginal wordLanguage of originKyotaBatà (child)TagalogNyortsShortsEnglishNyormvilleFarmVilleEnglishKyohoMabahò (stinking)Tagalog
Replacing the end syllable of words with "-ash", "-is", "-iz", "-ish", "-itch", "-ech", "-ush", or "-oosh" as a diminutive or augmentative suffix.
SwardspeakOriginal wordLanguage of originJotis (a very small amount)Jutay (a small amount)Cebuano, HiligaynonJubis (very fat)obeseEnglishTaroosh (very bitchy)Taray (bitchy)TagalogBaboosh (goodbye)Babay/Bye-byePhilippine EnglishItech (this)Itó (this)TagalogSinetch (who)Sinó (who)TagalogAnech (what, usually exclamatory)Anó (what)Tagalog
Replacing "a", "o", or "u" sounds with "or", "er", or "ur", especially directly before or after the consonant "l".
SwardspeakOriginal wordLanguage of originHaller/HellerHelloEnglishKalurkey Kaloka (insanely [entertaining], maddening, crazy)Tagalog (from Spanish loca)Gander Gandá (beautiful)TagalogWalleyWalâ (nothing, none), often used to mean a lack of the desired response (e.g. to an unfunny joke)Tagalog
Inverting the letter order of a word, similar to Tagalog syllable switching slang. It is predominantly used in Cebuano swardspeak.
SwardspeakOriginal wordLanguage of originIlij (no, not)Dili (no, not)CebuanoBayu (lover, boyfriend)Uyab (lover)CebuanoNial (bad, unpleasant)Lain (bad, unpleasant)Cebuano, Hiligaynon
Word play, puns, malapropisms, code-switching, onomatopoeic words that resemble preexisting words, and deliberately incorrect Anglicization of words.
SwardspeakOriginal word(s)Language of originCrayola (to cry, to be sad)CryEnglishAntibiotic (obnoxious, unpleasant)Antipátika (obnoxious, unpleasant)Tagalog (from Spanish antipática)Liberty (free)Libre (free)Tagalog (from Spanish libre)Career/Karír ('to take seriously', in the sense of "they turned it into their career", used as a verb, e.g. karirin, "to career", kinareer)CareerEnglishFillet O'Fish (to be attracted to someone)Feel (to sympathize)EnglishKapé / Capuccino / Coffeemate (to be realistic)'Wake up and smell the coffee.' (a humorous corruption of 'Wake up and smell the roses')Philippine EnglishThundercats (old, or the elderly, particularly old gay men)Matandâ (old)TagalogChiminey Cricket (housemaid)Deliberate corruption of Jiminy Cricket, Chimáy (Tagalog slang for housemaid)TagalogWarla (war, fight, quarrel)WarEnglishNota (penis)Description as musical noteTagalogPocahontas (prostitute)Pokpok (slang for 'prostitute')TagalogPagoda Cold Wave Lotion (tired, exhausted)A locally available brand of cold wave lotion for setting permanent waves, and pagód (tired, exhausted)TagalogMudra (mother, also used to refer to female friends with children)Madre (mother)Spanish, PortuguesePudra (father, also used to refer to male friends with children)Padre (father)Spanish, PortugueseHammer (prostitute)Pokpok (slang for 'prostitute), pukpók (onomatopoeic Tagalog word 'to pound', 'to hammer')Tagalog, EnglishBiyuti/Beyooti (beautiful, pretty)Beauty, word play of Cebuano bayot ('gay')English, CebuanoSilahis (bisexual male, often flamboyant)Silahis ([sun]beam, ray)TagalogBoyband (fat kid)A pun on Tagalog baboy ('pig')Tagalog, EnglishG.I. Joe (A foreign lover, particularly American)Acronym for 'Gentleman Idiot', with the implication being that the foreigner does not know their partner is a cross-dressing maleEnglishOpposition Party (a social occasion with a lot of expected problems)Pun on political oppositionEnglishEgyptian Airlines (jeepney)jeepney, jeep (or dyip in Tagalog)EnglishGeisha (he is gay)gay siyáEnglish, Tagalog
References to popular culture, usually celebrities or TV shows. They can be selected to replace a word in reference to the things they were famous for, simply because parts of the words rhyme, or both.
SwardspeakOriginal word or conceptDerived fromJulie Andrew (to be caught cheating)Hulì (Tagalog, 'to be caught')'Julie' rhymes with 'hulì', and references British actress Julie AndrewsGelli de Belén (jealous)JealousGelli de BelenWinnie Cordero (to win, have won)WinWinnie CorderoLuz Valdez (to lose, have lost)LoseLuz ValdezToy Story (toy, or any other kind of plaything)toyToy StoryJulanis Morissette (raining)ulán (Tagalog, 'rain')Alanis MorissetteJinit Jackson (hot weather)init (Tagalog, 'hot')Janet JacksonTommy Lee Jones / Tom Jones (hungry)Tom-guts (Tagalog syllable switching slang for gutóm, 'hungry')Tommy Lee Jones, Tom JonesStress Drilon (stress)stressCes DrilonHaggardo Versoza (haggard)haggard (exhausted, tired)Gardo VersozaX-Men (formerly appearing to be heterosexual, coming out, especially turning from hypermasculine to effeminate)'Ex-man' X-MenFayatollah Kumenis (thin)Payát (Tagalog, 'thin')Ayatollah Khomeini Barbra Streisand (to be rejected bluntly, blocked)Bará (Tagalog, 'to block', including verbally)Barbra StreisandMuriah Carrey (cheap)Mura (Tagalog, 'cheap')Mariah CareyLupita Kashiwahara (cruel)Lupít (Tagalog, 'cruel')Lupita Aquino-Kashiwahara, a Filipina film and television director, and sister of assassinated Senator Benigno Aquino Jr.) Carmi Martin (karma)KarmaCarmi MartinRita Gómez (irritating, annoying)Nakaka-iritá (Tagalog and Spanish, 'irritating')Rita GómezMahalia Jackson (expensive)Mahál (Tagalog 'expensive', 'precious', 'dear')Mahalia JacksonAnaconda (traitor, to betray)Ahas (Tagalog slang, 'to betray', literally 'snake')Anaconda (film)Badinger Z (homosexual)Badíng (Tagalog derogatory slang, 'homosexual')Mazinger Z (anime)Taxina Hong Kingston (to wait for a taxicab)TaxiMaxine Hong KingstonNoël Coward (No)NoNoël CowardOprah Winfrey (promise)PromiseOprah WinfreySharon Cuneta (yes, sure)SureSharon CunetaMag-Sharon (To Sharon)Take home leftovers from parties. Derived from the lines "Balutin mo ako sa liwanag ng iyong pagmamahal" ("Wrap me in the light of your love") from Cuneta's single, Bituing Walang Ningning.Sharon CunetaJesus Christ SuperstarResurrectionJesus Christ SuperstarOptimus Prime (a fashion makeover, to change into more fashionable clothing)TransformationOptimus PrimeChurchill (high society)SosyálWinston Churchill
Borrowed words from other languages, particularly long disused Spanish words in the Philippines (which has feminine forms of words preferred in swardspeak that is absent in most Filipino languages), English, and Japanese.
SwardspeakDefinitionOriginDramá (also the adjective 'dramatic')Melodrama, exaggeration, drama [queen]EnglishCarry/KeriTo carry [oneself well], manageableEnglishSiete PecadosNosy, gossipmongerSpanish, 'seven sins'; also two different rock formations in the PhilippinesPuñeta (also spelt punyeta)General profanity, roughly equivalent to 'fuck'Spanish slang, with varying degrees of perceived obscenity. Literally, 'in a fist'.ChiquitoSmallSpanish, 'small'Coño (also spelt konyo)High society, especially [affluent] socialites who speak Taglish exclusivelySpanish slang, 'vagina'OtokoManly manJapanese, 男 (otoko)BerruBeerJapanese, ビール (bīru)WatashiMe, IJapanese, 私 (watashi)
Examples
Translation of the traditional Filipino nursery rhyme Ako ay May Lobo (I have a balloon) into swardspeak.
Original versionTranslation into swardspeakApproximate English translationAko ay may lobo Lumipád sa langit Di ko na nakità Pumutók na palá Sayang lang ang pera, Pinambilí ng lobo Sa pagkain sana, Nabusóg pa ako.Aketch ai may lobing Flylalou sa heaven Witchels ko na nasightness Jumutók lang pala Sayang lang ang anda Pinang buysung ng lobing Kung lafangertz sana Nabusóg pa aketch I had a balloon It flew up to the sky I couldn't see it anymore [Didn't know] it had popped Money was just a waste Buying the balloon Had I bought food instead At least I would have been full
Translation of the traditional Filipino nursery rhyme Bahay Kubò (Nipa hut) into swardspeak.
Original versionTranslation into swardspeakApproximate English translationBahay kubò, kahit muntî Ang halaman doón, Ay sari-sarì Singkamás, at talóng, Sigarilyas at manî Sitaw, bataw, patani Kundól, patola, upo’t kalabasa At saka meron pa Labanós, mustasa Sibuyas, kamatis, bawang at luya Sa paligid-ligid Ay puno ng lingáValer kuberch, kahit jutey Ang julamantrax denchi, Ay anek-anek. Nyongkamas at nutring, Nyogarilyas at kipay. Nyipay, nyotaw, jutani. Kundol, fyotola, kyupot jolabastrax At mega join-join pa Jobanos, nyustasa, Nyubuyak, nyomatis, nyowang at luyax And around the keme Ay fulnes ng linga.Nipa hut, though it be small The plants it houses Are sundry and all Jicama and eggplant, Winged bean and peanut