.

USAGE OF GAY LINGO AMONG MILLENIALS AS A WAY OF

COMMUNICATING

Allan Jade G. Papua1 Maria Adrielle Estigoy2 Danilo S. Vargas3

Central Luzon State University1
Central Luzon State University2
Central Luzon State University3

nallaedaj@gmail.com1 mariaadrielleestigoy@clsu.edu.ph2 dsvargas@clsu.edu.ph3

ABSTRACT
This study was conducted to identify factors influencing the usage of gay lingo among
millenials as a way of communicating. It also aimed to determine the extent of utilization and the
effects of using the gay lingo. Using a descriptive type of research, the researcher gathered data
from three different schools in Umingan, Pangasinan,Philippines which are Umingan Central
National High School, Quezon Memorial Academy, and Immaculate Conception Catholic School.
A researcher made questionnaire was used in this study. The questionnaire was composed of
socio- demographic profile, Communication characteristics, Factors influencing the usage of gay
lingo, extent of utilization and effects of gay lingo. Findings shows that the majority of the
millennials are using the gay lingo as a way of communicating. Also there is a weak negative
significant relationship with source of information and age whereas the age of the respondents
increases the source of information about gay lingo also decreases. Moreover, there is a
weak negative significant relationship with sex and the number of gay friends. It was found that
female are tend to friends with gays compared to male and it showed that female are more open
about homosexuals compared to men. In addition factors influencing the usage of gay lingo
among millenials as way of communication were identified and one factor is school since a lot
of gays are in school therefore the influence of gays to millennials is high.

Keywords: Usage, Gay,Lingo,Milenials, Communicating

Introduction abstract thought, to learn to

Language is a complicated
business. In everyday talk, we use the
word “language” in many different
ways. We talk about how miraculously
a child’s language is developing but
how they make charming ‘grammar
mistake’, like me maden that Instead of
‘I made that’. Here, language is an
ability that is blossoming in the child.
(Downes, 2012)
In addition, language can be
used to express inner thoughts and
emotions, make sense of complex and
communicate with others, to fullfil our
wants and needs, as well to establish
rules and maintain our culture.
Language can be defined as verbal,
physical, biologically innate, and a
basic form of communication.
Behaviorists often define language as a
learned behaviour involving a stimulus
and response. (Omrod, 2011) Often
times they will refer to language as
verbal behaviour, which is language
that includes gestures and body
movements as well as spoken word.
(Pierce, & Eplin, 2012). All human

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 .
languages share basic characteristics,
some of which are organizational rules.
(Santrock,& Mitterer,2002).
Gayspeak, gaylingo or “swardspeak” is
an argot or cant slang derived from
Taglish and used by a number of
homosexuals in the Philippines
(Wikipedia). Like any other language,
is constantly changing. But unlike
other languages, words and terms in this
colorful tongue undergo change so
quickly that it would be impossible to
come up with a dictionary of the
language that wouldn’t become
obsolete within a matter of months,
weeks, or even days. In spite of this,
there is a thread that holds this language
together, and that is freedom, freedom
from the rules and dictates of society.
(Saguitan, 2012)
It is undoubted that in the Philippines
the LGBT community has been an
influence to many people. Whether it’s
on fashion, showbiz, and entertainment.
One thing is that the LGBT community
has develop a language that they can
use as a way of communication. Past
studies like ”Morphological Analysis
of Gay’s Spoken Discourse” by Ariele
B Lunzaga of Southern Leyte State
University only focus on the gay
language spoken by the people and not
with the influence of it. Hence, the
study focused on the Influence of the
gaylingo among millenials as a way of
communicating and the factors that
influencing them to use it.
Objectives of the Study
This study aims to determine and
describe the use of gay lingo as a way
of communication among millenials.
1. To describe the socio-demographic
profile of the respondents
2. To determine the communication
characteristics of the respondents
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3. To identify the factors influencing the
usage of gaylingo among millenials.
4. To determine extent of utilization of the
respondents to gaylingo.
5. To know the Influence of using
gaylingo among millenials through the
relationship of socio-demographic
profile, source of information and
number of gay friends.
Hypothesis of the study
1. There is no relationship between socio-
demographic profile, Source of
Information and number of gay friends
REVIEW OF RELATED
LITERATURE AND STUDIES
In this part of the study, it contains
review of related literature and studies
that will help the researcher to
understand the topic, to clarify the vague
points of the study and the comparisons
between the findings of this paper with
other related literatures studies.
References can be formed both local and
international sources which are focused
on social, political, and environmental
aspects which are related to the influence
of using gay lingo as a way of
communication among Millenials.
Definition of Gay Lingo
According to Cage (2012, p.23), gay
language is defined as a particular
register or variety of language that is
employed in certain socio-cultural
contexts by gay people. That is to say,
this kind of language has its narrow use
in some situations and contexts but in
others involving “the social system of the
gay co-culture”. Red (2012, p.41) defines
gay language as a type of code used in
the gay community for the purpose of
preventing people from outside the
group (herein refers to heterosexuals)
making sense of it and helping link them
in “their own discourse”. This
definition calls our
 .
attention to “anti-language” by Halliday
(2013, p.570) which is “a special form of
language generated by some kind of anti-
society”. This anti language uses words
and expressions with additions and
alterations in meaning aiming at creating
and retaining its identity (Cage, 2012,
p.25)
Age and Gay lingo
Age can be a big factor in the
influence of using gay lingo because a
person who is exposed to homosexuality
can influence them to use it as a way of
communication. According to the 2012
Young Adult Fertility and Sexuality
Survey, 11% of sexually-active Filipinos
between the ages of 15 and 24 have had
sex with someone of the same sex
meaning to say that a person who had sex
with gay can influence to use the gay
lingo as a way of communication.
Gender and Gay Lingo
Filipino poet and critic Santiago
(2012) speculates that Filipino culture
may have a more flexible concept of
gender because kasarian, the
Tagalog word for gender, is defined in
less binary terms than the
English word gender.
Kasarian means "kind, species, or
genus".
Language and Gay Lingo
Language, more than anything
else, is what makes us human. The
unique power of language to represent
and share unbounded thoughts is critical
to all human societies, and has played a
central role in the rise of our species in
the last million years from a minor and
peripheral member of the sub-Saharan
African ecological community to the
dominant species on the planet today (W.
Tecumseh Fitch, 2010). The evolution of
human language is one of the most
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important and interesting evolutionary
events in the history of life on our planet
(Maynard Smith and Szathma´ ry 2013;
Nowak et al. 2012)
The dynamic nature of the
language refuses to isolate itself to a
single culture and allow for more
freedom in expression among its
speakers. (Filipino gay lingo, 2008)
Language will remains as the most
important aspect of intercultural and
transcultural communication. It also
guides the intergenerational and
transgenerational production and
reproduction of knowledge, norms and
values (Downes, 2012; Skutnabb-
Kangas, 2013)
The Philippines is a country
characterized with 182 living languages
and 4 extinct ones. This highlights the
growing need for language research and
sociolects are no exception. To be
understood by all, a translator can aid
non-speakers of the sociolect and
applications are not only limited to
communication and research. We
present our work on developing a rule
based translator for Beki speak a well
known sociolect in the country used
primarily by gays (Ponce, 2011).
Knowledge with Gay Lingo
A gay lingo has no actual past
present, present and future tenses for
verbs, comparatives and superlative
forms for adjectives and it doesn’t
follow subject-verb agreement.
(Gianan, 2012). Gayspeak or
“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 or
dialects, including Cebuano,
 .
Hiligaynon, Waray, Bicolano, and other
places (Hudson, 2010: Badingtionary,
2010) and by using swardspeak,
Filipino gays are able to resist the
dominant culture of their area and
create a space of their own. The
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. (Garcia, 2014)
Extent of Utilization and
Influence of Gay Lingo
Gayspeak, like any other
language, is constantly changing. But
unlike other languages, wordsand terms
in this colorful tongue undergo change
so quickly that it would be impossible
to come up with a dictionary of the
language that wouldn’t become
obsolete within a matter of months,
weeks,or even days. In spite of this,
there is a thread that holds this language
together, and that is freedom,freedom
from the rules and dictates of society
(Suguitan, 2012). Any language has
developed since it has a function or a
number of functions. For example,
Halliday (2013, cited in Marasigan,
1983, p.58) suggests some functions of
language in general in oral conversation
that language serves to express social
and personal relations (interpersonal),
to represent an experience, to impart
factual information, to control the
behavior of others (regulatory), to get
involved in fantasies, and to show one
one’s identity (personal).
However, homosexuals still
receive discrimination and
condemnation in several countries in
the world although people have a more
open-minded attitude towards them
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today. For this reason, gay language
functions as a form of “defense
mechanism” against homophobic
society (Baytan, 2014, p. 260)
According to Remoto (2008), since
1960’s Taglish reached the masses,
many gay words have been inserted and
spoken by common people. In 1970s,
gay language has even become a
mediator among the languages in the
Philippines. Gay words of the 1970s
still exist, but are continuously updated
– in beauty parlors and offices,
universities and streets, media and
boutiques. When 1980’s came, the gays
started to use names of people in show
business and entertainment, geography
and the sciences, media and politics,
culture and the arts.
METHODOLOGY
This study can be much more
related to George Herbert Meade theory
of symbolic interactionism to analyze
the influence of gay lingo among
millennials. Meade’s theory of
symbolic interactionism attempts to
account for the origins and development
of human mind – or intelligence – by
locating it within the process of
evolution, by showing that the origins
of human mind lie in human society.
Symbolic interacionism tends to focus
on the language and symbols that help
us give meaning to the experiences in
our life. They notice that as we give
social interactions. We spend time
thinking about what we will do next and
adjust our approach depending on how
we believe others perceive us.
According to (Blumer, 1969)
Symbolic interactionists are often less
concerned with the objectives structure
than the subjective meaning- how
repeated, meaningful interactions
 .
among individuals come to define the
makeup of ‘society’. Summarized
succinctly, there are 3 core principles of
this theory of symbolic interactionism
these are the Meaning, Language and
Thought. ( Blumer, 1969) said that
meaning suggests that people act and
behave towards the other people and
things based upon the meaning that they
have given to them, and according to
him language makes the symbols and
interactions comprehensible to the
mind. And which helps in formulating
assumptions and he also said that
Thought implies the interpretations that
we have assigned to the symbols which
have the power to provide an idea even
about an unknown thing based on
known knowledge.
The researcher used simple
random sampling design in determining
the samples of the study. Samples are
chosen randomly and entirely by
chance, such that each individual has
the same probability of being chosen at
any stage during the sampling process.
The researcher select 357 respondents
randomly from the total population of
4970 from three schools in Umingan
Pangasinan which are the Umingan
National High School, Immaculate
Conception Catholic School and the
Quezon Memorial Academy.
On the procedure, the respondents were
ask if they are willing to participate on
the study. The researcher asked consent
to the respondents if it’s okay to answer
the given questionnaire to them. After
gathering the data needed, the
researcher politely thanked the
respondents.
The researcher used questionnaires
in collection of data among 357
respondents who are using gay lingo as
a way of communication. The
researcher guided the respondents in
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answering the questionnaires in order to
gather other related sufficient
information.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
. Most of the respondents are female
with 64.1 % it only shows that female
are more engaged with gay people
compared to male. As for age, the
respondents are age around 13 to 21 and
the majority of them are around 17 to 18
years old this means that the
respondents begin to learn the gay lingo
around 13 years old. Roman Catholic
dominated the religion with 73.7%
since Roman Catholicism is leading
religion in the Philippines it only
shows that it is leading in Umingan
Pangasinan. In, addition to socio-
demographic profile the language used
by the respondents as a way of
communication is tagalog with 93.6%
since tagalog is the national language
of the Philippines. Aside from that more
than half of respondents also answered that
they used Iloco since it is their native
language in Umingan Pangasinan.
As for the communication
characteristics. It shows that the
majority of the respondents preferred to
get information about gay lingo to their
friends 68.2% followed by internet
58%, since gay lingo can be thought
anywhere, friends is the most frequent
to get information about gay lingo
because they can easily give
 .
information about it. Also internet can
be a source of information since social
media is used by a lot of people they can
easily access information. Moreover,
the respondents preferred Face to face
communication with 53.9%. Also, the
respondents said that they used the
message they have gathered in
socializing or interaction with 52.9%.
As for the factors influencing
the usage of gay lingo. Findings shows
that the person who influenced the
respondents to use gay lingo were gays
with 72.8%, friends is also a factor
since aside from family they are always
with them. In addition, aside from the
fact that gays are entertaining it showed
that majority of the respondents want to
use the gay lingo because it is
entertaining to hear with 70%. Also,
most of them answered that they
learned it school 77.6% and more than
half of them said that no one convinced
them to use but only their selves.
Furthermore, majority of them are
interested in learning the language since
it is popular, trendy and a lot of people
use it. As for the number of gay friends
garnering of 69.7% respondent said that
they have 7 to 9 gayfriends. In terms of
knowledge about homosexuality,
majority of them answered the word
gay 81% that it is the first thing that
comes to their mind when they are
hearing the word homosexual.
Another factor influencing the
usage of gay lingo as a way of
communication is the influence of gays
69.75% with a descriptive rating of
sometimes. In addition, gay language
can help them to communicate to other
people and it is also shown in the
descriptive rating that the gay language
can be sometimes helpful as way of
communication. 81.51%. However, as
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they use the gay lingo as a way of
communication their perception to gays
were changing slowly with for 60.5%
and descriptive rating of sometimes.
In terms of Extent of Utilization
of gay lingo. Findings shows that the
word charot which means joke were one
of the gay lingo word they know and
always used in communicating. Also, it
showed that the frequency of use of gay
lingo were sometimes 82.35% and upon
using the gay lingo the emotion they
always get were happy since gay people
are happy person. Furthermore, majority
of them answered that they are getting
information about gay lingo from gays
with 72.8% since it is already given
because the gay lingo originated from
gays so the source of information about
gay lingo are with them. Garnering with
85.1% both of the respondents ansewered
that gay lingo can be used in conversation
with other people and talking to gays.
Findings shows that there is a
negative significant relationship between
the age and the number of
communication characteristics in getting
information about gay lingo. This
indicates that as the age of the student
increases, the number of communication
characteristics in getting information
about gay lingo also decreases. However,
it should be noted that the relationship is
weak. The other socio-demographic
profile (religion, language, sex) posted
no significant relationship with the
number of communication characteristics
in getting information about gay lingo
because the more exposed the
respondents to homosexuals the more
knowledge they gain about them and
when they get older they no longer need
to gather information about gays.
In addition, Among the socio-
demographic profile of the respondents,
 .
only sex had a significant weak
correlation or relationship with the
number of gay friends (See Table 1).
Furthermore, Table 2 shows that there
was a significant association between sex
and the number of gay friends. This
means that the distribution of sex (male
or female) across the different ranges of
the number of gay friends was different.
It shows that female tends to have more
gay friends compared to male
respondents. It also shows that female is
more open about homosexuals compared
to male.
In terms of using the gaylingo
does it have a good effects to people who
used it. Finding shows that majority of
the respondents answered that using the
gay lingo has a good effect to them with
73%. While 63.6% answered using gay
lingo does help them to communicate
with other people. They also said that
using gay lingo can be beneficial to them
and as they used gay lingo their personal
aspects towards gay were changing.
CONCLUSION AND
RECOMMENDATION
1. The presented data showed that the socio-
demographic profile of the respondents
has no effects in influencing the
millenials in using the gay language.
However there is a negative significant
relationship with the age and number of
communication characteristics in
getting information about gay lingo.
2. With regards to communication
characteristics it was shown that friends
has high level in influencing others and
they preferred to engage in face to face
communication and the message they
want to get is news and they use it their
daily lives.
3. The findings exhibited that the level of
influence of the gay people in using the
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gay lingo shows a high level and most
of them learned the language in school.
Moreover, they use gay lingo to have
knowledge and better understanding
about it also shows that the level of
knowledge about homosexuals and
gaylingo among millenials is high.
4. With regards to Extent of Utilization,
presented data that gay people can be an
influence to them sometimes and they
claimed that they are happy around
them. In addition, it shows that using
the gaylingo can change a person
perception and sometimes they used it
as a way of communication.
5. Finding shows that there is a negative
weak significant relationship with
source of information and age while the
language, religion and gender don’t
have significant relationship with
source of information. Also, Sex and
number of gay friends has a negative
weak relationship with each other while
the age, language and religion don’t
have.
6. Findings shows that the effects of using
gay lingo is high because the millenials
said that they are happy using it and they
claimed that it has a positive effect on
them. In addition, the millenials said that
the gaylingo helps them to communicate
and it changes their personal aspects
towards gay people upon using it.
For the recommendations,
1. Based on the gathered information the
gaylingo can greatly influence one’s
language and communication. This
study can be recommended to all
millenials especially to the gay people
who are using the language to be guided
and to have proper knowledge about it.
Also this is for the people who have
concerns about how can gay people be
an influence to others and it is for the
people who consider adopting the gay
lingo.
 .
2. Upcoming researchers should gather a
formal monitoring and evaluation of the
influence of gay people among other
people to deal with the question or to
know the outcome of whether the
influence of gay people can be positive
and negative.
3. For future researchers who would want
to study similar topic, more number of
respondents can be better if the aim is to
know the effects of gay lingo among
heterosexuals as a way of
communication.
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