Jologs

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Jologs is a Filipino slang term/word used to describe or depict a person — especially young one who is from a 'squatter area' or belonging to a lower class of society — who is out are out-of-style, old-fashioned, trashy-looking, pathetically cheap and corny. It is at times equated with another Filipino word for cheaply-dressed person, baduy.

1 Origin
2 Food
3 Pinoy Hip-Hop?
4 Jaloux
5 Jologs Phenomenon
6 Movie
7 Reference
8 Citation

[edit] Origin

Filipino linguists and historians offer different theories as to the origin of the word. Although most of them agree that the earliest recorded usage of the term Jologs came from the Original Pilipino Music (OPM) lyrics of the early 90's, preceding the Internet, and an invention of the middle or upper class of Manila. Since then, the word/term has developed and evolved into sub-meanings which are usually deemed negative and offensive. Since the advent of the Internet, Jologs has found its way into different web-based dictionaries and authoritative blogs which have remained “true” to the derogatory term it denotes: the lowlife, typically poor, unrefined urban youth.

[edit] Food

Many Filipino linguists including sociologists agree that the term originated from 'diyolog' which stands for dilis (anchovies), tuyo (dried fish) and itlog (egg) — the food of the poor. And it was used like this: "Oh, look she eats diyolog." Later it became "Look, diyolog, o." Until the 'diy' got changed to 'j', hence 'jolog'.

Palanca Award winner Paolo Manalo, in his summary of the generally accepted theories of its etymology, stated that “Jolog came from Jolina (a Filipino actress). It's what a fan of hers is called. "Jol" from Jolina + "og" like the suffix -ite or -ian. But critics said they never heard of a suffix -og to mean "follower." Besides, the word was in existence before Jolina became a star. They also insisted that Jolina's not jolog. At most, she is [[[baduy]]].

[edit] Pinoy Hip-Hop?

Some contend that the word originally referred to the Pinoy hip-hop, or 'hiffhaffers', especially those seen walking as a group in malls. Hiphop fashion includes those very loose and wide pants that were 'huhulog-hulog' (kept falling). "Hulog" later was spelled "Julog" until it was pronounced "ju-log", then its final form: "jo-log". But most scholars dismiss this theory saying that the it sounds too easy, too obvious.

[edit] Jaloux

Other linguists are geographically specific. For them, the term was coined by high school students in Quezon City, specifically those familiar with Quezon Avenue in the 80's. There was a disco, Jaloux, that was rumored to be owned or co-owned by Edu Manzano and was cheap compared to the popular discos of the time that were in Makati City. Disco-goers called it "the squatter of discos". The disco played really baduy disco music, and people who frequented the place were young fashion victims who were quite feeling and baduy themselves. Jaloux, they said, evolved and became Jologs.

[edit] Jologs Phenomenon

A number of sociologists disputed the exaggeration of negative meaning associated with Jologs. They say that the word is certainly much more benign than other forms of prejudice and discrimination. In fact, it is rather democratic; it transcends race, color and religion. Whether one is of Malay, Chinese, Hispanic or of whatever origin, whether one is Christian or Muslim, he/she could be jologs. Nevertheless, it is form of discrimination; they said that it shows a certain apathy the upper classes have to the glaring poverty and human suffering plaguing the Philippines. There would therefore be interest in movements in different segments of society that show some signs of overcoming this prejudice. Among the many movements that could affect the jologs phenomenon, we will examine three: Glorification in the Arts, Transcendence through Rock n’ Roll and Self-identification of the Masa.

[edit] Movie

In 2002, Star Cinema released a movie entitled Jologs directed by Gilbert Perez.

[edit] Reference

CopongCopong Term
Being the True, the Good, the Beautiful and Definitive Meaning of Jologs
Mulder, Niels (1997): Inside Philippine Society: Interpretations of Everyday Life. Quezon City: New Day.
Antonio de Morga’s Successos de las Islas Filipinas, Jose Rizal refers to the Tagalog language as Tagál in several footnotes. This shows that “og” is a legitimate Tagalog suffix.