# Swardspeak

Swardspeak (also known as salitang bakla (lit. 'gay speak') or "gay lingo") 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 "Sward" is an outdated slang for 'gay male' in the Philippines.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-".
| Swardspeak | Original word | Language of origin |
| Jowa (variant diminutive: Jowabelle/Jowabels) | Asawa (spouse, usually female) | Tagalog, Cebuano, Hiligaynon |
| Gora (variant diminutive: Gorabelle/Gorabels) | to go (to a place) | English |
| Shupatembang, Shupated, Jupiter | Kapatíd (sibling) | Tagalog |
| Shunga | Tangá (idiot) | Tagalog, Cebuano, Hiligaynon |
| Julalay | Alalay (assistant) | Tagalog |
* Replacing the first letter/syllable of words with "Ky-" or "Ny-".
| Swardspeak | Original word | Language of origin |
| Kyota | Batà (child) | Tagalog |
| Nyorts | Shorts | English |
| Nyormville | FarmVille | English |
| Kyoho | Mabahò (stinking) | Tagalog |
* Replacing the end syllable of words with "-ash", "-is", "-iz", "-ish", "-itch", "-ech", "-ush", or "-oosh" as a diminutive or augmentative suffix.
| Swardspeak | Original word | Language of origin |
| Jotis (a very small amount) | Jutay (a small amount) | Cebuano, Hiligaynon |
| Jubis (very fat) | obese | English |
| Jomba | fat | English |
| Taroosh (very bitchy) | Taray (bitchy) | Tagalog |
| Baboosh (goodbye) | Babay/Bye-bye | Philippine English |
| Itech (this) | Itó (this) | Tagalog |
| Sinetch (who) | Sinó (who) | Tagalog |
| Anech? (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".
| Swardspeak | Original word | Language of origin |
| Haller/Heller | Hello | English |
| Churchill | Sosyál (high society) | Tagalog (from Spanish social) |
| Kalurkey | Kaloka (insanely [entertaining], maddening, crazy) | Tagalog (from Spanish loca) |
| Gander | Gandá (beautiful) | Tagalog |
| Walley | Walâ (nothing) | Tagalog |
* Inverting the letter order of a word, similar to Tagalog syllable switching slang. It is predominantly used in Cebuano swardspeak.
| Swardspeak | Original word | Language of origin |
| Ilij (no, not) | Dili (no, not) | Cebuano |
| Bayu (lover, boyfriend) | Uyab (lover) | Cebuano |
| Nial (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.
| Swardspeak | Original word(s) | Language of origin |
| Crayola (to cry, to be sad) | Cry | English |
| Antibiotic (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) | Career | English |
| Fillet O'Fish (to be attracted to someone) | Feel (to sympathize) | English |
| Kapé / Capuccino / Coffeemate (to be realistic) | 'Wake up and smell the coffee.' (a humorous corruption of 'Wake up and smell the roses') | Philippine English |
| Thundercats (old, or the elderly, particularly old gay men) | Matandà (old) | Tagalog |
| Chiminey Cricket (housemaid) | Deliberate corruption of Jiminy Cricket, Chimáy (Tagalog slang for housemaid) | Tagalog |
| Warla (war, fight, quarrel) | War | English |
| Nota (penis) | Description as musical note | Tagalog |
| Pocahontas (prostitute) | Pokpok (slang for 'prostitute') | Tagalog |
| Pagoda Cold Wave Lotion (tired, exhausted) | A locally available brand of cold wave lotion for setting permanent waves, and pagód (tired, exhausted) | Tagalog |
| Mudra (mother, also used to refer to female friends with children) | Madre (mother) | Spanish, Portuguese |
| Pudra (father, also used to refer to male friends with children) | Padre (father) | Spanish, Portuguese |
| Hammer (prostitute) | Pokpok (slang for 'prostitute), Pokpok (onomatopoeic Tagalog word 'to pound', 'to hammer') | Tagalog, English |
| Biyuti/Beyooti (beautiful, pretty) | Beauty, word play of Cebuano bayot ('gay') | English, Cebuano |
| Silahis (bisexual male, often flamboyant) | Silahis ([sun]beam, ray) | Tagalog |
| Boyband (fat kid) | A pun on Tagalog baboy ('pig') | Tagalog, English |
| G.I. Joe (A foreign lover, particularly American) | Acronym for 'Gentleman Idiot' | English |
| Opposition Party (a social occasion with a lot of expected problems) | Pun on political opposition | English |
| Egyptian Airlines (jeepney) | jeepney, jeep (or dyip in Tagalog) | English |
| Geisha (he is gay) | gay siya | English, 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.
| Swardspeak | Original word or concept | Derived from |
| Julie Andrew (to be caught cheating) | Hulì (Tagalog, 'to be caught') | 'Julie' rhymes with 'Huli', and references the British actress Julie Andrews |
| Gelli de Belén (jealous) | Jealous | Gelli de Belen |
| Winnie Cordero (to win, have won) | Win | Winnie Cordero |
| Luz Valdez (to lose, have lost) | Lose | Luz Valdez |
| Toy Story (toy, or any other kind of plaything) | toy | Toy Story |
| Julanis Morissette (raining) | ulan (Tagalog, 'rain') | Alanis Morissette |
| Jinit Jackson (hot weather) | init (Tagalog, 'hot') | Janet Jackson |
| Tommy Lee Jones / Tom Jones (hungry) | Tom-guts (Tagalog syllable switching slang for gutóm, hungry) | Tommy Lee Jones, Tom Jones |
| Stress Drilon (stress) | stress | Ces Oreña-Drilon |
| Haggardo Versoza (haggard) | haggard (exhausted, tired) | Gardo Versoza |
| X-Men (formerly appearing to be heterosexual, coming out, especially from being hypermasculine to effeminate) | 'Ex-man' | X-Men |
| Fayatollah Kumenis (thin) | Payát (Tagalog, 'thin') | Ayatollah Khomeini |
| Barbra Streisand (to be rejected bluntly, blocked) | Bará (Tagalog, 'to block', including verbally) | Barbra Streisand |
| Muriah Carrey (cheap) | Mura (Tagalog, 'cheap') | Mariah Carey |
| Lupita 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) | Karma | Carmi Martin |
| Rita Gómez (irritating, annoying) | Nakaka-iritá (Tagalog, 'irritating') | Rita Gómez |
| Mahalia Jackson (expensive) | Mahál (Tagalog 'expensive', 'precious', 'dear') | Mahalia Jackson |
| Anaconda (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) | Taxi | Maxine Hong Kingston |
| Noël Coward (No) | No | Noël Coward |
| Oprah Winfrey (promise) | Promise | Oprah Winfrey |
| Sharon Cuneta (yes, sure) | Sure | Sharon Cuneta |
| Mag-Sharon (To Sharon) | Take home leftover food from parties. Derived from the lines "Balutin mo ako sa liwanag ng iyong pagmamahal" (Wrap me in the light of your love) of Cuneta's single Bituing Walang Ningning. | Sharon Cuneta |
| Jesus Christ Superstar/Optimus Prime (Fashion makeover, to change into more fashionable clothing) | Resurrection, Transformation | Jesus Christ Superstar, Optimus Prime |
* 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.
| Swardspeak | Definition | Origin |
| Drama (also means the adjective 'dramatic') | Melodrama, exaggeration, drama [queen] | English |
| Carry/Keri | To carry [oneself well], manageable | English |
| Siete Pecados | Nosy, gossipmonger | Spanish, 'seven sins' |
| Puñeta (also spelt punyeta) | General profanity, roughly equivalent to 'fuck' | Spanish slang, with varying degrees of perceived obscenity. Literally 'in a fist'. |
| Chiquito | Small | Spanish, 'small' |
| Coño (also spelt 'konyo') | High society, especially [affluent] socialites who speak Taglish exclusively | Spanish slang, 'vagina' |
| Otoko | Manly man | Japanese, 男 (otoko) |
| Berru | Beer | Japanese, ビール (bīru) |
| Watashi | Me, I | Japanese, 私 (watashi) |

## Examples

* Translation of the traditional Filipino nursery rhyme Ako ay May Lobo (I have a balloon) into swardspeak.
| Original version | Translation into swardspeak | Approximate English translation |
| Ako 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 version | Translation into swardspeak | Approximate English translation |
| Bahay 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 lingá | Valer 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 String bean, hyacinth bean, lima bean. Wax gourd, luffa, long gourd and squash, And then there is also white radish, mustard greens, Onion, tomato, Garlic, and ginger And all around Are sesame seeds. |