DAVAO CITY -- Dabawenyos can expect jejemon lingo to linger on way past the New Year as it remains popular among teens despite the government having stepped in and literally setting the words right.
For 14-year-old Mark Guanzon, a second-year high school student of F. Bangoy National High School, any move by the Department of Education (DepEd) to end the use of the lingo will not stop them from using it anyway.
"Jejemon" is the unique way of writing a text message marked by exaggerated spelling and the alteration of original pronunciation.
"Dili naman na mapugngan sa DepEd na maggamit ang mga batan-on ana (DepEd can do nothing to stop the youth from using it)," another student, Anabieza, said.
Christine Bolivar, 16, a fourth-year student of the same school, echoed the same sentiment.
The word "jejemon" was chosen as the word of the year during the Sawikaan 2010 Salita ng Taon -- a national conference on the enrichment of the Filipino language -- held on July 29-30 at the University of the Philippines-Diliman.
The conference was attended by 200 literature experts from all over the country who carefully chose the word of the year with much scrutiny and deliberation.
It can be recalled that former DepEd secretary Mona Valisno earlier discouraged students from using jejemon spelling and grammar, saying it tends to penetrate the most popular mode of communication today. She added that this hampers the proper and correct way of communication and causes the deterioration of students' vocabulary.
But jejemon is just today's version of lingos through the different generations that saw the popularization of words like "ermats" and "erpats," "jologs," and even the fast-evolving and changing gay-speak. It's just that jejemon is in SMS form.
In the 1980s, students in Davao were even much into the so-called horse-language, where they talked in what sounds like galloping horses, their elders unable to understand what the conversations were about as they placed two additional syllables for every syllable.
Horse language died a few years later as it was no longer in vogue to speak in such manner. (Jereco O. Paloma)
