A PRESENTATION ON

GAY SLANG IN A
 PHILIPPINE PERSPECTIVE
a presentation by Sebastian Narciso, Luke So,
Kyle Sante, and Jonathan Jeffrey Decena
GAY SLANG IN THE PHILIPPINES

YES, IT IS DIFFICULT.
WHY IS THIS SO?
What is a language?
Ferdinand de Saussure viewed it as an
"arbitrary system of signs"
GAY SLANG IN THE PHILIPPINES
THE LANGUAGE IS
CULTURAL
"Language is a repository of our
experiences, the things we hold dear,
and an expression of our history. So
language will change from community
to community." Words form as a result
of the shared experiences of the
community.
"Gay lingo will continue on. Right now
among middle class people, it's heavily
influenced by things like AAVE and
drag race. But if you go to poor
communities and to the provinces, their
gay lingo is different."
THE LANGUAGE IS
CONSTANTLY EVOLVING
"Gay lingo in the Philippines is hyper
dynamic. It might be because of the
linguistic creativity of the community. I
was gone for 4 years and when I came
back the lingo was so different!"
"Gay lingo in the Philippines to the lingo
used in shows like RuPaul's Drag Race,
from Season 1 until now, it's still "Slay"
"Yass." Sa Pilipinas mabilis magbago.
Sobrang likot. It's so interesting."
GAY SLANG IN THE PHILIPPINES
THE LANGUAGE IS
CULTURAL
"It's interesting to note that gay lingo
as it is popular now is mostly only
developed among gay men. There might
be differences among lesbians or trans
persons or across socio-economic
classes."
Castillo: I've never come across a
coded language developed by queer
women. But this is only among middle
class folks I speak to.
THE LANGUAGE IS
CONSTANTLY EVOLVING
"It's not the existence of gay lingo in the
Philippines that is fascinating. It's the
fact that it changes so fast. Sobrang
likot niya. It's so interesting!"
“The realm of being of these words is
undecipherable, this gives it a possibility
to fade away and be replaced in the
future.”
So...
What is Gay Lingo or
Gay Slang anyway?
GAY SLANG IN THE PHILIPPINES

"CHAROT" "KERI" "ECHOSERA"

You often hear this at But it's not like "carry" You can call someone
the end of sentences as in the verb, more an echosera when one
and is usually said if like, "carry" as in is saying a lot of
the statement is meant "carry on." It's also bullshit about you.
to be a joke. often used to express,
"it's OK!"
Variations include:
Char and Chos It also tends to be used
similar to the Filipino
When your tita says word "Kaya"
you're getting fat,
you'd reply,
"You too, tita! Chos!"
GAY SLANG IN THE PHILIPPINES
GAY SLANG IN THE WORLD
"SHADE" OR
"THROWING SHADE"
Indirectly insulting It basically means that
someone.
If I were to say in a
terribly condescending
voice, "Oh honey, I'm so
glad you saved up to buy
those glasses," that's
blatant shade. I didn't
insult the glasses, or you, show featuring different
directly. It's implied by my
voice and the context of
what I said. You know
they're ugly.
"SLAY" "TEA" OR "T"
It refers to gossip or
personal information
someone killed it or
belonging to someone
succeeded in doing
else; the scoop; news.
something amazing.
It can also refer to the
It is commonly used
truth.
online and is often
featured on RuPaul's
"Spill the tea about
Drag Race, a hit reality
what happened."
drag queens.
GAY SLANG IN THE WORLD
GAY SLANG IN THE PHILIPPINES
STRUCTURE OF
GAY SLANG OR
GAY LINGO
In general , sentences usually follow a similar
structure to Filipino.

“There are so many Ch— words in our lingo. Chos,

Choti, Charot.”

There is also suffixation, where we attach

different suffixes to a word. As in Chakabels,
Huhubels, Aketch, Ditech.

Replacement of some letters with the letter "J."

Examples include: Majinit, Jupo, Jarap

Some onomatopoeic words like PAK!

The use of Celebrity names. Examples: Majinit

Jackson and Julanis Morisette
How did it emerge?
It is difficult to trace its
exact origins.

"The way I see it the very

first time gay people got
together, that's when gay
lingo started."
Through its use amongst
members of the gay
community and through
various media platforms.
GAY SLANG IN THE PHILIPPINES

SIGNIFICANCE OF GAY SLANG OR GAY LINGO

"The language while it is a way for us to create our community as a whole, it is also a way
for us to create our individual identities."

"The main reason why we veil our communications it is to avoid cultural violence. Philippine
gay lingo is very dynamic because it provides us with a tool to talk about our issues
without being subject to cultural violence."

"Because of social media. We need to keep thinking of words to conceal our messages."

"In high school, we used gay lingo to code the ranking of cute boys.
Keri: Average
Nirapei: Very cute
Fatale: Super, super cute"
 GAY SLANG IN THE PHILIPPINES

SIGNIFICANCE OF GAY SLANG OR GAY LINGO

""The fact na ginagamit pa rin natin siya pang-conceal ibig sabihin ang hirap pa rin talaga
mamuhay as LGBTQIA+ sa Pilipinas."

"I always thought that gay lingo was creative and fun because gays are creative. Pero
ngayon ko lang na-unpack na kaya namin ginagamit dati ay dahil the conversations we code
would get us bullied or beaten up."

"It would be bittersweet if Philippine gay language became obsolete. On one hand, we
would lose such a big part of our culture. On the other, we'd be able to live and speak our
truths freely. We would no longer need to hide."

"It shows not just how creative our community can be. But it also gives us a sense of
togetherness on how we move forward, how we #RiseUpTogether for each other, how we
say #YesToEquality."
 THE END

MORE MORE SHULAMAT MAE 

FOR LISTENING!
REFERENCES:
ALBA, REINERIO A. IN FOCUS: THE FILIPINO GAYSPEAK (FILIPINO GAY LINGO) . NATIONAL
COMMISSION FOR CULTURE AND THE ARTS, 26 FEB. 2006,
WEB.ARCHIVE.ORG/WEB/20151030001439/HTTP://NCCA.GOV.PH/ABOUT-CULTURE-AND-ARTS/IN-
FOCUS/THE-FILIPINO-GAYSPEAK-FILIPINO-GAY-LINGO/.

LAURETA, ISABELLE. “FILIPINO GAY LINGO EXPLAINED FOR THE REST OF THE WORLD.” BUZZFEED,
BUZZFEED, 31 MAY 2017, WWW.BUZZFEED.COM/ISABELLELAURETA/I-LOVE-YOU-CHAR.

LOPEZ, LINETTE. “THIS IS WHERE THE EXPRESSION 'THROW SHADE' COMES FROM.” BUSINESS
INSIDER, BUSINESS INSIDER, 4 MAR. 2015, WWW.BUSINESSINSIDER.COM/WHERE-THE-
EXPRESSION-THROW-SHADE-COMES-FROM-2015-3.

ONG, GHIO. “GAY LANGUAGE COULD COME AND GO - KWF.” PHILSTAR.COM, THE PHILIPPINE
STAR, 7 JUNE 2018, WWW.PHILSTAR.COM/HEADLINES/2018/06/08/1822705/GAY-LANGUAGE-
COULD-COME-AND-GO-KWF.
REFERENCES:
HTTPS://TWITTER.COM/MMPRIDEORG/STATUS/1033976243085950977

HTTPS://WWW.URBANDICTIONARY.COM/DEFINE.PHP?TERM=SLAY

HTTPS://WWW.URBANDICTIONARY.COM/DEFINE.PHP?TERM=TEA

HTTPS://WWW.YOUTUBE.COM/WATCH?V=ZPVKHOGQP5C