Since When

Since when do we have to agree with people to defend them from injustice?

-Lillian Hellman, playwright (1905-1984)

Toilet Keyboard

Some keyboards are dirtier than a toilet bowl.
The human mouth is full of bacteria. When you kiss someone, you exchange anywhere between 10 million and 1 billion bacteria.
And finally, Neatorama gives us these words:

1. FRENCHIFY (v)

Definition: 1) To make French in quality or trait 2) To make somewhat effeminate, and 3) To contract a veneral disease (a 19th century slang).

Analysis: We have the English to thank for this word. Most people implicitly understand that it means to become more like the French, but not a lot know the second or the third meaning. We’re still not sure which is more insulting.

2. BESCUMBER (v)

Definition: To spray with poo.

Analysis: Actually bescumber is just one of many words in the English language that basically mean “to spray with poo”. These are: BEDUNG, BERAY, IMMERD, SHARNY, and the good ol’ SHITTEN. In special cases, you can use BEMUTE (specifically means to drop poo on someone from great height), SHARD-BORN (born in dung), and FIMICOLOUS (living and growing on crap).

Alternative: If that is too vulgar, you can use BEVOMIT and BEPISS, which meanings should be obvious to you, as well as BESPAWL (to spit on).

Oh, and if you want to say poo without looking like you're saying it, you can use ORDURE, DEJECTION, and EXCRETA. To mean something more specific, you can use MECONIUM (first feces of a newborn child), MELAENA or MELENA (the abnormally tarry feces containing blood from gastrointestinal bleeding), LIENTERY (diarrhea with undigested or partially digested food), and STEATORRHEA (fatty stool that's hard to flush down).

Here are some words along the same line that may one day prove to be useful for you: TURDIFY (turn into turd), COPROPHAGIA (eating of feces [wiki]), and COPROPHILIA (Think 2 Girls 1 Cup [wiki - don't worry, SWF], if you don't know what this is, I shan't corrupt you any further).

Let's end entry number two with these two amazing words COPREMESIS and MISERERE, both of which mean fecal vomiting. Yes, fecal vomiting. It's a medical emergency caused by the obstruction of the bowel (source).

3. MICROPHALLUS (n)

Definition: An unusually small penis.

Analysis: Self explanatory.

Alternative: Insulting a man’s private part is a very reliable way to put him down (if he’s smaller than you) or to get beat up (if he’s larger than you). Usually, even a dimwit can decipher the meaning of this word, after all, it’s just a combination of “micro” and “phallus”.

So, to insult a physically larger opponent, we recommend you use these words instead: PHALLOCRYPSIS (retraction or shrinkage of the penis), CRYPTORCHID (undescendend testicles), and PHALLONCUS (tumor of the penis).

4. COCCYDYNIA (n)

Definition: Pain in the butt.

Analysis: It's a real medical term: coccydynia is pain in the coccyx or tailbone. Most people simply call it "buttache."

Similar: PROCTALGIA, PROCTODYNIA, PYGALGIA and RECTALGIA all mean pain in the butt.

Alternative: CERVICALGIA (pain in the neck), PHALLODYNIA or PHALLALGIA (both mean pain in the penis), and PUDENDAGRA (pain in the genitals).

The word "butt" is highly versatile in its vernacular use - you can say "butt face" or "hairy butt" - dem are fightin' words - but it's much better to use these instead: ANKYLOPROCTIA (stricture of the anus, the state of "tight-assity"), STEATOPYGOUS (fat-assed), DASYPYGAL (having hairy buttocks), and CACOPYGIAN (having ugly buttocks).

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5. NINNYHAMMER (n)

Definition: A fool or a silly person.
Analysis: The word "fool," unless you're Mr. T, is sometimes woefully inadequate to express the stupidity of the person you're talking about. So use Ninnyhammer. Or at least NINNY.

Alternative: The English language is chockful of colorful words meaning stupid person, such as: DUMMKOPF, IGNORAMUS, JOBBERNOWL, GOWK, and WITLING.

For mental retardation, eschew the ubiquitous 'tard - rather, use AMENTIA (extreme mental retardation because of inadequate brain tissue), CRETINISM (mental retardation associated with dwarfism, caused by the deficiency of a thyroid hormone, a person with cretinism is a CRETIN), and MORONITY (used to mean mild retardation of having a mental age of 7 to 12 years, now it's an obsolete term though we still use the word moron).

6. BUNCOMBE (n)

Definition: A ludicrously false statement. Basically it means bullshit or nonsense.

Analysis: Actually, you probably already know this word by its more common spelling: bunkum.

The origin of this word is fascinating. In 1819, a North Carolina congressman, the Honorable Felix Walker, was giving a rambling speech with little relevance to the current debate. He refused to yield the floor, and claimed that he wasn't speaking for Congress but instead "for Buncombe" (a county in North Carolina he represented). That's all it took.

Over time, the spelling changed to "bunkum," and the meaning strangely changed to be "excellent." Then it changed back in 1870, when a San Francisco gambler introduced a new game "banco" played with dice that were later found out to be loaded. Sure enough, BUNCO became known to mean swindle or cheat, and bunkum reverted back to its original meaning. (Source)

The word DEBUNK came directly from this: it's just bunk(um) with the prefix de- (meaning to remove).

7. HIRCISMUS (n)

Definition: Offensive armpit odor.

Analysis: Hircismus comes from the root word "hircus" which means goat in Latin. Someone must have thought smelly pits smelled like goats. Actually, this word combines two sources of great insult potential: smelly and armpits. Why this is not used more often in the discourse of hateful communication is beyond me.

Alternative: As we've mentioned, armpit is an untapped goldmine for insults. Here are some examples of words you can use: MASCHALEPHIDROSIS or MASCHALYPERIDROSIS (excessive sweating of the armpits). MASCHALOPHILOUS (sexual attraction to the underarms) and AXILLISM (the use of armpit for sex).

Smelling like goats is also a good source of insults (especially since goat is also a slang for a lecherous man). Try CAPRYLIC and HIRCINE (smelling like a pungent goat), and CAPRIC (resembling a goat).

8. CORPULENT (adj)

Definition: Very fat.

Analysis: Good ol' fat is a reliable insult word. After all, nowadays, no one like a fatty ... except Mauritanian men. That's right: in the Islamic Republic of Mauritania, fat and Rubenesque women are sexy and desirable. So much so, that instead of the crash diet of the West, they have a similar but opposite program: crash feeding or "gavage," where girls as young as 5 years old are force-fed milk, cream, butter, couscous and other calorie-rich food:

Girls as young as 5 and as old as 19 had to drink up to five gallons of fat-rich camel’s or cow’s milk daily, aiming for silvery stretch marks on their upper arms. If a girl refused or vomited, the village weight-gain specialist might squeeze her foot between sticks, pull her ear, pinch her inner thigh, bend her finger backward or force her to drink her own vomit. In extreme cases, girls died. (Source)

Interestingly, the ideal man is skinny (Mauritanians view portly men as womanish and lazy).

Alternative: ABDOMINOUS (potbellied), STEATOPYGOUS (fat-assed), and FUSSOCK (a very fat woman).

9. FEIST or FICE (n)

Definition: 1) A small dog of uncertain ancestry, a mongrel. 2) A person of little worth or someone with a bad temper, and 3) Silent fart.

Analysis: You actually already know this word: feist is used throughout the Midland and Southern United States to mean a snappy, nervous and belligerent little dog. The adjective feisty which means "full of spirit or spunky," comes from this word. But that's not why it's on this list (hint: #3!)

What you may not know is the true origin of the word. Feist comes from the Middle English fisten, which means to break wind (fist originally also meant flatus or fart). Feist is a special type of fart: the silent (and often deadly) type. Oh, and the word "fart" itself comes from another Middle English word farten or ferten, which in turn is from the Old English feortan.

Feist is the type of word that, if introduced to young adolescents, no doubt would spark a lifelong interest in learning new words.

Alternative: Fart is another one of those goldmines of insults. To obfuscate what you really mean, use instead: FLATUOSITY (fart). Other gems: EPROCTOLAGNIAC (someone aroused by flatulence, his own or someone else's), CARMINATIVE (something that makes you fart), and BDOLOTIC (prone to farting).

10. CACAFUEGO (n)

Definition: A swaggering braggart or boaster.

Analysis: Cacafuego literally means "shit fire" in Spanish. Anyone who boasts their new knowledge of insulting words from this article can be called a cacafuego.

That's not the only interesting thing about it:

Cacafuego is also the nickname of a 16th century Spanish galleon captured by Sir Francis Drake (El Draque or The Dragon as he was known to his Spanish victims). The ship's original name was Nuestra Señora de la Concepción (Our Lady of Conception), but for some reason it's called by her sailors as "cagafuego" (fireshitter) or "cacafuego" (shitfire).

It was Drake's biggest plunder: it took his crew four days to transfer the cargo from the Cacafuego. In all, Drake got 80 pounds of gold, 26 tons of silver, 13 cases of silver coins, jewels, and more.

Synonym: BLATHERSKITE, BRAGGADOCIO, FANFARON, GASCONADER, and RODOMONTADE (English is full of this kind of word, though I think caca "shit fire" fuego is in a class of its own!)

Lesbians on Lesbos

I wrote about the residents of Lesbos wanting to get their "Lesbian" tag from the lesbians. Now let's read the comments from the The Register:

As a British resident on Lesvos, I'm trying to get my male Greek friends to wear "Lesbian and Proud" badges. Not much success so far...

That depends on how exactly you define "male". It's not exactly easy to come up with a good, robust definition of "male" even in the strictly biological sense. Transsexuals make things even more confusing, though at least they know whether they're male or not. Still, apparently transsexual lesbians do exist. (There was even a fairly entertaining episode of Dark Angel based around this.) For male lesbians, though, you might be better off looking in Second Life - apparently some of the in-world lesbians are males in real life and it's caused huge amounts of e-drama in the past. (Probably still does - I don't really follow Second Life-related news anymore, and I'm not sure it'd really count as news either.)

What about the Samaritans, Philistines, Vandals, Huns, Goths, and Spartans? Which would you prefer to put up with, spartan accomodation vandalised by philistine goths, or some lesbians? I think the Lesbians have got their priorities mixed up.

Actually..... One of the few advantages of being transgendered is that you can happily ignore all labels such as 'straight' or 'gay' and have sex with whoever you like..

Surely the residents of the island are, erm, 'Greek'? This is like people on the island of Arran calling themselves Aryan; we all know what that lead to...

It won't be farmers, it'll be the Dutch. They've been using dykes for a long time. Think of the boy who stuck a finger in one...

So the island is not "Lesbos" nor "Lesvos" but Λέσβος What's the problem again?

What are the residents of Phuket called?

Motto of the Week

“I love deadlines. I like the whooshing sound they make as they fly by.”

Douglas Adams (via topherchris) (via kylebunch)

Junot Diaz Spells "Masculinity" with a K

Junot won last week the Pulitzer for "Oscar Wao." In this interview with In These Times, Diaz talks about masculinity, Trujillo and transnational writers.

Semicolon

;

Supahfweak

I bet you sang that when you read it. That's the beauty of an unforgettable opening line of a song. And Nash, can you guess the immortal movie lines in my other blog?

Jimi

100 Best Last Lines

this way this way this way this way this way this way this
way out this
way out
O

–Ronald Sukenick, Out (1973)


This is the difference between this and that. –Gertrude Stein, A Novel of Thank You (1958)

Now everybody— –Thomas Pynchon, Gravity’s Rainbow (1973)

And the last word from the ringleader of Gucci Gang:

And so, as Tiny Tim observed, God bless Us, Every One! –Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol (1843)

Tiny sabi nyo e di Tiny. More here

Voting through Fonts

Designers tried to become voters in the U. S. presidential campaign. They looked at the fonts used in their campaign stickers instead of their personalities and issues. Well, your choice of fonts like your choice of music reflects on who you are or what you aspire for. Never mind if your team chose the design. It's still between the candidate and the font. Guess who wins? According to Boston Globe, it's Obama and McCain who show "change" in their font selection.

Arnel Salgado's Favorite Phrase

purple prose (PUR-puhl proz) noun

An overly ornate piece of writing.

[Two synonyms of the term are 'purple passage' and 'purple patch'. The idea comes
from Latin pannus purpureus (purple patch), a phrase used by the poet Horace in
his Ars Poetica (The Art of Poetry) to suggest a patch of royal fabric on an
ordinary cloth, a brilliant piece of writing in an overall dull work.
Purple was the color of choice by the royalty as the purple dye was the most rare
and hence most expensive.]

Titivation

I was relieved to find no grotesque images of Philippines in the book below. Except for the captions. As an example, here's the caption for this photo:

TRINKETS AND TITIVATION
		From the fringe down her forehead to the bangles on her wrist this siren of the Agusan valley is dressed to break hearts. A betel nut used as chewing-gum incarnadines her lips

Words in Memory of Fischer

Actually, terms. Now you can't be at a loss for words while basorexing or tubicinating or playing dirty chess:
Amomaxia (AM-uh-MAX-see-uh) - Love-making in a parked car.
Amychesis (AM-i-KEE-sis) - The involuntary act of scratching or clawing your partner in the heat of passion.
Agelast (AJ-uh-last) - A person that never laughs
Anorchous (an-ORK-us) - Devoid or deprived of testicles; in colloquial lingo, "has no balls.
Ascian (ASH-ee-in) - A person without a shadow
Brassirothesauriast (bruh-zeer-oh-thuh-SAW-ree-ast) - A person who collects brassieres or pictures of women wearing them.
Basorexia (BAY-zuh-REK-see-uh) - An overwhelming desire to kiss or neck.

Buccula (BUHK-yuu-luh) - A double chin.
Coitobalnism (KOH-i-toh-BAL-niz'm) - Sex in the bath or shower.
Cacocallia (KAK-uh-KAL-shee-uh) - The paradoxical state of being ugly but at the same time sexually desireable
Colpocoquette (KAHL-puh-koh-KET) - A woman who knows she has an attractive bosom, and who makes good use of its allure.
Cingulomania (SING-gyoo-loh-MAY-nee-uh) - A strong desire to hold a person in your arms.
Dysania (dis-AY-nee-uh) - The state of having a rough time waking up and dragging yourself out of bed in the morning.
Dactylion (dak-TIL-ee-ahn) - The tip of the middle finger.
Erotographomania (e-RAHT-uh-GRAF-uh-MAY-nee-uh) - A mania from writing ardent love letters, or an obsession with erotic riting.
Horripilate (hahr-RIP-uh-layt) - To get goose bumps.
Hirsutophilia (hur-S(Y)OOT-uh-FIL-ee-uh) - Attraction to hairy men.
Krukolibidinous (KROO-koh-li-BID-i-nus) - Crotch-watching; having one's gaze fixated on the crotch.
Litch (LIH-ch) - A mass of tangled, matted hair.
Lalochezia (LAL-uh-KEE-zee-uh) - The use of foul or abusive language to relieve stress
Latrinalia (LA-tri-NAY-lee-uh) - Bathroom graffiti.
Mammaquatia (MAM-uh-KWAY-shee-uh) - The bobbing or jiggling of a woman's breasts when she walks, dances, or exercises.
Melolagnia (MEL-uh-LAG-nee-uh) - Amorous feelings inspired by music.
Medectasia (MED-ek-TAY-zhee-uh) - The bulge seen through a man's clothing created by his genetalia.
Misomaniac (Mis-oh-MAY-nee-ak) - A person who hates everything.
Noeclexis (NOH-i-KLEK-sis) - The practice of selecting a partner based on intellegence and character without regard for physical attractiveness.
Onychophagy (AHN-i-KAHF-uh-jee) - The habit of biting one's fingernails.
Ozoamblyrosis (OH-zoh-AM-bli-ROH-sis) - Loss of sexual apetite because your partner has wicked B.O.
Paneity (pun-NEE-i-tee) - The state of being bread.
Polylogize (puh-LIL-uh-jyz) - To talk excessivley.
Peotomy (pee-AHT-uh-mee) - Amputation of the penis.
Sphallolalia (SFAL-oh-LAY-lee-yuh) - Flirtatious talk that does not lead to amorous action.
Sacifricosis (SAK-oh-fri-KOH-sis) - The practice of absentmindedly fiddling with your genetalia through your pants pockets. "playing pocket pool" or "pocket hockey"
Typhlobasia (TIF-luh-BAY-zee-uh) - Kissing with the eyes closed.
Timotrudia (TIM-uh-TROO-dee-uh) - Sexual timidity or bashfulness.
Tripsolagnophilia (TRIP-suh-LAG-nuh-FIL-ee-uh) - The desire to obtain sexual pleasure from massage
Trichotillomania (TRIK-oh-TIL-uh-MAY-nee-uh) - A compulsion to pull out one's hair.
Tubicination (t (y)oo-BIS-i-NAY-shin) - The act of blowing on a brass wind instrument.
Viricapnity (VI-ri-KAP-ni-tee) - The aura of virile sexuality presumed to emanate from a man who is smoking.
Witzelsucht (VITS-ul-suukt) - A feeble attempt at humor.
Zoanthropy (zoh-An-thruh-pee) - The delusion that one is an animal.

Don't Start the Blamestorm, Hating "Woot" is Pecksniffian

Merriam-Webster's #1 Word of the Year for 2007 based on votes from visitors to our Web site:
1. w00t (interjection)

expressing joy (it could be after a triumph, or for no reason at all); similar in use to the word "yay"

2. facebook
   
   
3. conundrum
   
   
4. quixotic
   
   
5. blamestorm
   
   
6. sardoodledom
   
   
7. apathetic
   
   
8. Pecksniffian
   
   
9. hypocrite
   
   
10. charlatan

More Pinoy Buzzwords

I combed the Internet for Pinoy buzzwords and almost came out emptyhanded. Where are the clever Marcos admen when you need them? Dead or retired. I mean, Pinoys still consider convergence and synergy as buzzwords in 2008? Maybe you don’t even know who Rip Van Winkle was. Here are some of the gems I got though (red highlight means my coinage):

1) Spiderability. This is used to maximize your Internet presence and site visitors so you can earn from Adsense, for example. Good luck. Also gagambuoyancy
2) ZamPen. This is a nice coinage of Zamboanga Peninsula. The site said that this would be the new destination of “culture, adventure and nature.” A melting pot of races, Zamboanga Peninsula (ZamPen) boasts of a diverse mix of living cultures of Subanens, Yakans, Tausugs, Bajaus, Samals, as well as Chabacanos.
3) Nananakam which means “craving” in Filipino, can also be used for a inner hunger that is unnecessary but has to be fed. Important for Fil-Ams
4) Diamond statement. I encountered this a few months ago about a white paper linking Ping Lacson to destabilization moves on the government. So a diamond statement is any spurious document trying hard to be hard fact.
5) Unanotechnology. Credit this to Padma. Refers to nanotechnology but with a twist. It refers to a country wallowing in Third World status because its R&D is short-sighted or just short of cash. Another possible definition: technology catering to the vertically-challenged. Something like condoms of the right size naman or urinals that only Manute Bol can use.
6) Miskol. The obligatory buzzword. Winner of the Salita ng Taon 2007. Pinoy for missed call but texters often use “miscol” not “miskol”
7) Surrogacy. This is the new frontier for outsourcing. You get a sperm and egg from a couple and let it stay in a Pinay womb. In India, they get paid for $4,000 but foreign couples want Pinays because they are caring and eat less-spicy food.
8) Regalian doctrine. The doctrine from Regal chief Mother Lily Monteverde that movies should cater to the taste of the Pinoys not movies uplifting the taste of the Pinoys. This doctrine like the original Regalian doctrine is a legal fiction and caused the death of Pinoy movies.
9) Ulolcats. From the cute Lol cats but this refers to the not-so-cute cats and none-cats who actually text and write like lolcats with the same not-cute grammar mistakes (“I has chizburger” is cute to a fat Siamese cat but not to an 18-year-old gangsta from Tondo)
10) KKK-SSS-LLL. Refers to the “Kasal, Kasali, Kasalo” and its sequel “Sakal, Sakali, Saklolo,” both topgrossers of the Metro Manila Film Festival. It tells about a young couple through married life. Because the title plays on K, S and L. The next movie has to be: Lakas, Lakasa, Likas. It shows the macho image of the man crumbling as he realizes he is a lakasa or a closet gay and so he has to leave (likas).

Jinggam

We have been fighting about "The Lord is come" and the historical context. M kept on saying it should be "has come" or "coming." I had this argument under my thumb because "Joy to the World" was written by Isaac Watts in the early 1700s and at that time "The Lord is come" was gramatically accepted. There was another version used by the Mormons which corrected it. So I won.
But then there was this Badjao children who came to us and sang "Jingle Bells" and none of the words matched. At least Jingam Bells has "bells." The Badjao version I heard has nothing right.
"Because it wasn't their culture to have Christmas," A said.
"It's more of them not given a chance to learn to read and write," was what I said.
This YouTube was sent by Ige Ramos.

Buzzwords

The New York Times through Grant Barrett's article brought out their buzzwords of the year. Here are some selections:

bacn n. Impersonal e-mail messages which, unlike spam, you have clicked and so deserves the annoyance.

boot camp flu n. "An adenovirus that is usually innocuous but in its latest strain has led to pneumonia and death. The virus often occurs among military recruits, who are susceptible to it because they live in close quarters under stressful conditions" OK, so this is also what ails our PMA cadets. An eager correspondent wanted to bring out the meningo into it. Hopefully he was contained.

chief sustainability officer n. A business executive hired to meet environmental regulations and to find ways to profit through environmentally friendly products and services.

crowdsource v. To use the skills or tools of a wide variety of freelancers, professional or amateur, paid or unpaid, to work on a single problem.

e-mail bankruptcy n. When your inbox was so filled with many messages not spam that you found impossible to answer because you have not opened your email for all time, you declare bankruptcy from your senders. This happens when you join egroups with a huge following, all sending chain letters like the baguio web international. Beware!

FTW interj. For The Win. A bragging exclamation of approval, as in “K-Fed got the kids FTW,” or “I was able to open the file with Photoshop. FTW!!!” Originally part of the patter of the game show “Hollywood Squares” and later found in online games like World of Warcraft. Now largely used ironically and sarcastically.

global weirding n. An increase in severe or unusual environmental activity often attributed to global warming and includes freakish weather and new animal migration patterns.

gorno n. A genre of movies that are gory almost to the point of being fetishistic. A blend of “gore” and “porno.”

-hawk suffix Indicates a haircut similar to a mohawk. Sanjaya Malakar, a contestant on “American Idol,” sported what he called a ponyhawk. Shawn Andrews of the Philadelphia Eagles described his haircut as a brohawk, something akin to a short mohawk on a black man. An older use is fauxhawk, in which the hair is styled in a vertical strip but none is cut.

I-reporter n. CNN’s name for citizen journalists who submit their own photographs and reports about news events.

kinnear v. To take a candid photograph surreptitiously, especially by holding the camera low and out of the line of sight. Coined in August by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee of the Yarn Harlot blog when she attempted to take a photograph during an encounter with Greg Kinnear at an airport.

life-stream v. To make a thorough, continuous digital record of your life in video, sound, pictures and print.

lolcat n. On the Internet, an odd or funny picture of a cat given a humorous and intentionally ungrammatical caption in large block letters. Originally called a cat macro.

make it rain v. phr. To drop paper money on a crowd of people, especially in strip clubs, nightclubs or casinos.

maternal profiling n. Employment discrimination against a woman who has, or will have, children. The term has been popularized by members of MomsRising, an advocacy group promoting the rights of mothers in the workplace.

mobisode n. A short version of a full-length television show or movie, suitable for playing on a mobile phone or other hand-held electronic device.

mom job n. Also known as a mommy makeover, this is a package of cosmetic surgery procedures that will reduce the visible effects of childbirth, like stretch marks or sagging.

multi-dad v. Said of a woman who has children by more than one man. First popularized in Britain.

Navy shower n. A very short shower in which you turn off the water while lathering up. This old term is also known as a G.I. bath, but it’s new to many in the drought-stricken Southeast. Its antonym is the Hollywood shower, a long, wasteful one. Here it's long known as sisid marino.

nose bidet n. A neti pot or nasal irrigator, said to help with allergy symptoms.

post-kinetic environment n. In military jargon, the site of an explosion, severe gunfire or a destructive engagement. Unlikely to be used in the Philippines because it takes a lot of seminars to explain post, kinetic and environment.

tumblelog n. A Web site or blog that is a collection of brief links to, quotes from, or comments about things a person has encountered while Web browsing. It is a sort of digital commonplace book.

vegansexual n. A person who eats no meat, uses no animal-derived goods and prefers not to have sex with non-vegans.

Ten Filipino Buzzwords

I coined these while stuck in the Holiday traffic.

1) Culture of puniness: akin to “culture of impunity” but instead of being callous, this term goes to the root. “Puny” does not only mean “small” or “tiny” like President Gloria M. Arroyo (PGMA) but also the smallness of empathy, conscience and integrity of the people in the government which allows the killing of people who point out this fault.

2) Friendsterism: I’ve been using this term a long time ago. Why do Filipinos use “friendster” over other social networking sites like Facebook, mySpace etc? Because we want to be direct. We love abstract words. We use “friendster” because we want to make friends. We invented “love virus” because we know that people just want to be loved.

3) Pratsfall: (from Camille Prats) You are a cute mestiza. In Pinoy showbiz, that’s enough to make you a starlet. So you have youth, fame, commercial endorsements, movies. Then you got pregnant. Her PR friends tried to make a game of who the father is but people don't care. That’s the end of your fame, dahling. No second act.

4) Bossanian empiricism: (from Bozanian empire) The tendency of Filipino music heads to cash in on “bossa nova.” Sitti Navarro, she with the outrageous diction, started it all. Then we have Sophia, Cinderella bossa, VST bossa, religious bossa, Ilocano bossa. After all, it’s not that hard to do. Even in circa 1970’s Yamaha organs, bossa is just one flick of the switch.

5) CBCPal bull (also H-scad): The tendency of mainstream media to treat all “pastoral letters” from the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines as the argument to end all arguments, similar to the papal bull. Politicians know this. When PGMA was tagged as the most corrupt president Philippines ever had, the Inquirer took a photo of her beside a picture of Christ with the flaming heart. Context: I may be corrupt but God is with me so sorry ka na lang (you’re the Lucita Soriano, sore loser) H-scad means “highly scandalous acts against decency” which is the term used in the House of Representatives, of all people, for their new bill imposing higher penalties against H-scad.

6) Call-centeredness: You are a fresh graduate. You are made to train to speak in an American drawl. Then you get to talk at midnight to Americans as you guide them on the wonderful tedious world of computer or telephone operation. You have this notion that you are talking to a very important American who has more important things to do other than learning how to operate the computer. You are teaching God’s chosen people! Sometimes they bawl you out. That’s OK. Sometimes you have a feeling you are talking to illiterates but that’s OK. You are here guiding those who will save the whole world. If only...

7) Dedma texting: From dedma and texting, of course. This explains the rising number of vehicular accidents in the country because the motorists and pedestrians are busy texting. No wonder, this term was coined from “dead man walking.”

8) Political Korectonism: During the past elections, the only wonderful result was that many showbiz people lost in the elections. Maybe the voters are becoming politically savvy (good luck!). Sen. Ralph Recto knew this. Throughout his married life, he was referred to as “Mr. Vilma Santos” and he used this tag in gaining his first senatorial term. Then in his second run, he thought: Hey, I am the apo of Claro M. Recto, one of the country’s most brilliant and respected statesman. So he changed his motto from “Mr. Vilma” to “Ko-Recto.” Nice shift. He lost. Vilma won.

9) Sinigangstah: “Sinigang” is Pinoy’s favorite food (fish broth soured by tamarind or Knorr Sinigang Mix) but sinigangstah is actually a combination of “sine” and “gangstah.” This is highlighted by Jim Libiran’s “Tribu” which is a story of the many gangs in Tondo. It’s a tragedy because everybody died in the end but it won the Cinemalaya and is now reaping awards abroad. Expect many more movies of the sinigangstah genre. No bittersweet endings only sourness to the hilt.

10)Trillaness: The name has become a condition. Hey, he could not have become a senator if no one voted for him so there must be a lot out there who thought he was the savior out to clean government. But all these coup attempts is getting into our nerves. “Trillanes” is becoming just a “trill” or a “Thrillah” which is all spectacle. Many of us realized that change of government using the military may not be the solution but to some sad people, there’s no other way. Also “Barbarias at the Gate” which refers to “OA attempts to quash Trillaness.”

The Whole Human History in 100 words

At the UP (University of Pennsylvania) a professor history gives 100-word lectures on the biggest things in life. lan Charles Kors, the George H. Walker Endowed Term Professor of History, could give his whole lecture in one SMS message. For world history, Kors's course is:

• First, tribes: tough life.
• The defaults beyond the intimate tribe were violence, aversion to difference, and slavery. Superstition: everywhere.
• Culture overcomes them partially.
• Rainfall agriculture, which allows loners.
• Irrigation agriculture, which favors community.
• Division of labor plus exchange in trade bring mutual cooperation, even outside the tribe.
• The impulse is always there, though: "Kill or enslave the outsider."
• Gradual science from Athens' compact with reason.
• Division of labor, trade, the mastery of knowledge, plus time brought surplus, sometimes a peaceful extended order and, rules diversely evolved and, the cooperation of strangers - always warring against the fierce defaults of tribalism, violence, and ignorance.
• No one who teaches you knows what will happen.

I am so impressed until I learned that UP has a lot more 60-second lectures. This is part of their "Eschew Excess Verbiage" series.

Gary Snyder on Making Yourself Available

When I am working on prose (and I have published several books of prose essays, including my latest, "Back on the Fire"), it is necessary to work tirelessly and stay on schedule. Work means reading, research, interviewing people, etc., as well as just "writing," and then it also means editing and rewriting. The discipline of poetry requires that you keep yourself available. The muse "hits" unpredictably, almost like an accident. An artist keeps herself/ himself "accident-prone." And then there is the whole practice of order - files and notes - manuscripts at different levels of finish - and having a few good dictionaries always at hand.