From pick-up line to palusot: Sawikaan 2012 to select word of the year

(Updated 9:44 a.m., Sept. 20) - In 2012, Pinoys leveled-up with pick-up lines. Bawal ang wangwang, and anyone with a wi-fi connection knew that palusot, impeachment and SALN were trending online.  In 2010, jejemon was word of the year, followed by Ondoy and korkor. The word of the year is chosen from nominations from students, teachers, scholars, professionals, and others who are interested in language. "Ang pangunahing criteria ay naging mahalaga ang salita sa pang-araw-araw na buhay at pangkamalayang buhay ng mga Filipino," said FIT executive director Romulo Baquiran Jr. "Puwedeng sumali ang guro at estudyante. Kahit nga ang batikang propesor at kolumnista na si Randy David ay sumali at nanalo noong kauna-unahang Sawikaan para sa salitang 'canvass.' Nitong huli, si Dean Rolando Tolentino ng UP College of Mass Communication ay nagwagi rin para sa salitang 'jejemon.' Mayroon din namang kagaya ni Rachelle Joy Rodriguez na noong una ay estudyante pa at ngayon ay kasali pa rin bilang isang butihing guro na rin. Kaya, ang kagandahan ng paligsahang ito ay ang demokratisasyon sa 'pag-angkin' ng mga salita!" FIT's Vim Nadera told GMA News Online in an email. The call for nominations is usually made around January, with April as the deadline. This year's deadline was on March 30, 2012. The finalists were chosen from words that became popular in the last two years. "Mga 12 salita ito na naging popular sa nakaraang dalawang taon. Kaya ang 2012 salita ng taon ay sumasakop sa mga taong 2010-2012," Baquiran said. On the other hand, a few suggestions did not meet the criteria of bearing new meaning. "Halimbawa ay 'planking' na higit na angkop sa Ingles na konteksto," Baquiran said. "Ang salita ay dapat na may bagong aspekto ng kahulugan. Halimbawa, ang 'ukay' ay dating 'hukay' lamang. Pero nang maging tawag ito sa pagbebenta ng segunda manong gamit, nagkaroon ito ng bagong kahulugan sa maraming paraan," Baquiran said. According to Nadera, this year's deadline was a bit early, so that words like "Sottonism" were not included in the 2012 conference. "At iba pang salitang nagsisisulputan ngayong nakaraang buwan o linggo. Patunay lamang na buhay na buhay ang wikang Filipino. Kahit na tapos na ang Buwan ng Wika!" Nadera said. Launched in 2004, Sawikaan was inspired by the American Dialect Society's Word of  the Year project. Words of the year include "information superhighway" (1993),  "millennium bug" (1997), "9-11" (2001), and "metrosexual" (2003). "Naniniwala ang FIT na ang ganitong pamimili ng salita ng taon ay isang malikhain at mabisang estratehiya para tawagin ang ating pansin sa dinamiko at demokratikong katangian ng Filipino, ang ating wikang pambansa," FIT said on its website. The finalist words are chosen by FIT officials and members, as well as selected panelists. The nominators of the words will present evidence to support their proposed word at the conference, which will be held from September 20 to 22. This year's final 12 are: - level-up (Joselito de los Reyes) - pick-up line (Rachelle Joy Rodriguez at Wennilyn Fajilan) - wangwang (David Michael San Juan) - fish kill (Dr. Maria Lourdes San Diego McGlone) - pagpag (John Enrico Torralba) - palusot (Elyrah Salanga) - trending (Louie Jon Sanchez) - SALN (Jelson Estrella Capilos) - impeachment (Yolando Jamendang) - wagas (Mark Benedict Lim) - android (Aris Atienza) - wi-fi (Mitch Cerda) Papers from previous conferences from 2004 to 2007 are published in book form and are available at the UP Press. — Carmela G. Lapeña/BM/KG, GMA News