Jejemon (IPA: ['dʒɛdʒɛmon]) is a pop culture phenomenon in the Philippines. Jejemons are defined by Urban Dictionary as those "who has managed to subvert the English language to the point of incomprehensibility and online lynch squads."[1] A Jejemon is described as one of a "new breed of hipsters who have developed not only their own language and written text but also their own sub-culture and fashion."[2] Jejemons also imitate "gangster" like attitudes which make them similar to the English chav, Scottish ned, Irish skanger, Russian gopnik and Australian & New Zealand bogan.
Etymology
The word "Jejemon" supposedly originated from online users' penchant to type in "hehehe" as "jejeje", either because "jeje" is derived from Spanish, whose speakers denote the interjection as laughter, or because the letters "h" and "j" are beside each other[1], and that it is appended by "-mon" that came from the Japanese anime Pokémon,[3] with "-mon" meant as "monster," hence "jeje monsters."[4]
Origins
The origins of short-handed typing was through the short messaging service, in which each text message is limited to 160 characters. As a result, an "SMS language" developed in which words were shortened in order to fit the 160-character limit. Although some jejemons aren't really "conserving" characters instead they are lengthening it.[3]
In the internet, the Jejemon phenomenon started in "early April." On April 14, 2010 at Pinoy Tumblr, a post about vice presidential candidate Jejomar Binay indicating that he was the Jejemon's preferred vice presidential candidate, complete with a fake poster with him called as "Jejemon Binay." Later the use of word "Jejemon" to refer such people made rounds in various Filipino internet message boards.[3]
Such short-handed language is not limited to Filipinos: Thais use "5555" to denote "hahahaha," since the number 5 in Thai language is pronounced as "ha."[2]
Demographics
The Jejemons are said to be the new "jologs", a term used for Filipinos of the lower income class.[1][2] Jejemons are often attributed to be of inferior intellect, but this belief may be wrong as a number of them exist in exclusive schools, science high schools and popular colleges. The parameters of being classified as a Jejemon are still unclear, and how the different "levels" of "Jejemonism" are reached,[5] although there are named levels such as "mild," "moderate" and "severe" or "terminal."[6]
Jejenese and Jejebet
The sociolect of the Jejemons, called Jejenese, is derived from English, Filipino and their code-switched variant Taglish. Their alphabet, Jejebet, uses the Roman alphabet, including the Arabic numerals and other special characters. Words are created by rearranged letters in a word, alternating capitalization, over-usage of the letters H, X or Z and mixture of numeric characters and our normal alphabet[2]. The spelling convention shares similarities with Leetspeak.
Examples:
Filipino: "3ow ph0w, mUsZtAh nA?" translated into Filipino as "Hello po, kamusta na?, translated into English as "Hello, how are you?"
English: "i wuD LLyK tO knOw moR3 bOut u. crE 2 t3ll mE yur N@me? jejejejeje!" translated into English as "I would like to know more about you, care to tell me your name? Hehehehe!"
aQcKuHh- means me/ako
lAbqCkyOuHh- means I love you
yuHh- means you
jAjaJa- garbled words conveying laughter
jeJejE- a variation of jAjaJa; conveys sly laughter
iMiszqcKyuH- means I miss you
eEoWpFhUeEhsxz - means hi/hello
Reaction
Initial reaction to the Jejemons is irritation and bewilderment. Jejemons are likely to encounter hate; some had seen their Facebook wall with people wishing their death. Several Facebook fan pages were created both in support and against the group. However, celebrities such as Rico Blanco, Alessandra de Rossi, Ces Drilon, and Lourd de Veyra have condemned the wholesale ridicule of the subculture.[3][7]
YouTube videos were also uploaded parodying the Jejemons, connecting them to the current election campaign. Edited television advertisements of Nacionalista Party proclaiming their disdain for Jejemons, and an edited photograph of Gilberto Teodoro with him holding a sign saying that the Jejemons be "brought back to elementary school" went viral.[4]
As part of the pre-school year clean-up of schools for the upcoming 2010-11 school year, the Department of Education (DepEd) strongly discourages students from using Jejemon spelling and grammar, especially in text messaging. Communicating with other using Jejemon are said to cause deterioration of young Filipino students’ language skills.[8]
If we see jejemons out there,their dead
