‘Jejemon’ wins as word of the year in Sawikaan 2010

It’s a victory for the “jejemons." The word “jejemon" bested nine other entries and was chosen as word of the year by a group of academics from the University of the Philippines in Diliman, a GMA News report said on Friday. The winning word of the year was announced on Friday after a two-day national conference at the UP Diliman campus in Quezon City dubbed as “Sawikaan 2010" and organized by the Filipinas Institute of Translation (FIT).
Dean Rolando Tolentino of the UP College of Mass Communication, proponent of the word, said in a television interview that the word's victory is an acknowledgement of the pop culture phenomenon it brought from the Internet to the rest of the country. “Ibig sabihin, may pagkilala pala rito sa phenomenon na napakalaganap sa new media (This means there’s a recognition after all for this phenomenon that is now very widespread in new media)," he said in an interview aired over GMA News’ “24 Oras." The etymology of the word “jejemon" is generally presumed to have started from online users' penchant to type in "hehehe" as "jejeje", either because "Jeje" is derived from Spanish, whose speakers denote the interjection as laughter, or because the letters "h" and "j" are beside each other. The "-mon" appendage, on the other hand, is supposed to come from the Japanese anime Pokémon, with "-mon" denoting "monster," hence "jeje monsters." Chosen by Sawikaan 2010 as runner-up is the word “Ondoy," which referred to the Philippine-designated name of the tropical storm that brought heavy floods to Metro Manila and nearby provinces last September. Other finalists include the words "Ampatuan" for the name of the clan linked to last year’s gruesome massacre in Maguindanao; “unli," for the popular “unlimited text and call" packages offered by cell phone providers; “load," for prepaid loads for cell phone SIMs; “tarpo" for digitally-printed tarpaulin streamers that dominated the streets especially during elections; “solb" for “problem solved" or “it's ok now"; and “emo" for “emotional." As for the rather mysterious “namumutbol," the word is derived from "football." Some say it originally described the practice in some provinces of kicking fallen coconuts either as a pastime or to surreptitiously collect them for food.—Andreo C. Calonzo/JV, GMANews.TV