Do you agree with the word choice?
Filipino language experts have picked the Filipino Word of the Year and it’s “fotobam.” It’s the Filipino version of the word, “photobomb.”
“The word was presented during the conference is organized by the Filipinas Institute of Translation Inc. in cooperation with the Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino (Filipino Language Commission), the National Commission for Culture and the Arts, and the University of the Philippines College of Education,” reports Ghio Ong in The Philippine Star.
Experts from the academe, media, and other intellectual sectors presented their studies about on the origin and significance of the 10 most popular words used by Filipinos this year. A panel then deliberated on the presented words.
The word ‘fotobam’ was nominated by history professor Xiao Chua, who cited the controversy surrounding the Torre De Manila. It may be recalled that people had dubbed the builing as the “Pambansang Photobomber (National Photobomber)” for allegedly destroying the view behind Dr. Jose Rizal’s iconic monument at the Luneta Park.
ABS-CBN News quoted Chua as saying, “Kaya siguro nabiyayaan po ng mga kalahok at ng hurado ‘yung ‘fotobam’ sapagkat it goes beyond pagiging sikat kung hindi nagkaron siya ng significance sa kultura natin at sa ating kasaysayan.”
(“I think the participants and the panel chose ‘fotobam’ because it goes beyond being popular and it has a significance in our culture and our history.”)
Check out the full list of nominated words below
1. bully
2. fotobam (photobomb)
3. foundling
4. hugot (wrought from one’s emptional depths)
5 . lumad (a term used to refer to indigenous people from the southern part of the Philippines)
6. meme
7. milenyal (millenial)
8. netizen
9. tukod (originally meant as an act of supporting the elbow on a flat surface, it is currently used to refer to a traffic jam)
10. viral
The seconed place went to the word, “hugot (rough translation: drawn from the emotional depths).” The third place went to “milenyal,” which is the Filipino variant of “millenial.”
