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Agree or Disagree: Selfie is the Word of the Year

Ashton Kutcher poses in the audience during the 2010 People's Choice Awards

Meryl Streep takes a photo of herself and Hillary Clinton after Clinton hosted a dinner for the Kennedy Center honorees in Washington

Tom Hanks takes a selfie with fellow actor Steve Martin at the 2013 Governors Awards

Images courtesy of www.edition.cnn.com

Source: www.edition.cnn.com

The most esteemed guardian of the English language has bestowed a prestigious honor upon debatably the most embarrassing phenomenon of the digital age: the selfie.

So, grab a smartphone, put on your best duck face and celebrate.Oxford Dictionaries' word for the year for 2013 is "selfie."

And when you share that filtered photo on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram, you'll join not just Anthony Weiner and Geraldo, but millions of others around the world perpetuating a tradition started over a decade ago, Oxford says.

The word "selfie" first popped up in an Australian chat room on September 13, 2002, to describe an undignified scene, the dictionaries' publishers believe.

This was the post: "Um, drunk at a mates 21st, I tripped ofer and landed lip first (with front teeth coming a very close second) on a set of steps. I had a hole about 1cm long right through my bottom lip. And sorry about the focus, it was a selfie."

Yes, the first-ever known mention of the word "selfie" stemmed from an inebriated mouth with teeth protruding through its bottom lip.

Given those circumstances, Oxford may not much care how you spell it.

You could go with "ie" or "y," as in "selfy."

Oxford says that doesn't change the official definition:

"A photograph that one has taken of oneself, typically one taken with a smartphone or webcam and uploaded to a social media website."

Complete unknown

For years after its birth, "selfie" crept through the web largely unnoticed.

But in 2012, the word of the year began its ascent to digital fame, Oxford says.

Suddenly, everybody around the world was using the word, as they self-snapped away.

By August this year, Oxford proclaimed it a real English-language word and gave it a place in the dictionary -- but that was merely a stepping stone to lingual infamy.

"Language research conducted by Oxford Dictionaries editors reveals that the frequency of the word selfie in the English language has increased by 17,000% since this time last year," Oxford wrote in justifying its choice.

"Selfie" beat out seven competitors, including "twerk," "schmeat" (synthetically produced meat) and "bitcoin" for the Word of the Year crown.

"Selfie" is not slouching on its thrown, Oxford says of its word of the year.

It has spawned herds of images on social media. There are 57 million photos bearing its hashtag -- #selfie -- on Instagram alone.

There is even a user account called "selfie." And, yes, it contains nothing but selfies.

"Selfie" has also been busy pumping out offspring in its namesake.

It has given birth to "helfie" -- a photo of one's own hair; "belfie" -- a snapshot of one's own backside; and "welfie" -- a selfie taken while working out, aka the most annoying kind.

There's also the "drelfie" -- a photo of yourself when you're drunk.

Fitting, since a drelfie in Australia was the first "selfie" that ever bore the name.

Agree or Disagree: Enchong Dee Looks Back on his Teenage Years: ‘Lahat ng lalaki dadaan sa pagka-maniac stage’

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Source: www.push.abs-cbn.com

Enchong Dee said that it was really a dream come true for him to work with Tuhog co-star Eugene Domingo. He revealed that she became one of his favorite actresses ever since he saw the movie Ang Tanging Ina. But now that they’ve gotten to know each other, he feels blessed because he found a friend in Eugene. “I know nagkaroon ako ng someone who can guide me or I can ask questions from her anytime regarding our work, na mas may alam sa craft mo at hindi ka lolokohin. Kapag pangit ang gawa mo, sasabihin niya agad. Kung maganda iku-compliment ka niya. Kahit pakabig lang yung friendship namin, puro papunta sa akin, tinatanggap niya ako bilang kaibigan,” he said in an interview with Push.com.ph at the ABS-CBN compound last Tuesday, July 9.

Eugene, who was also present during the interview, added that she encourages Enchong to practice his versatility as an actor. “Kasi yun ang problema niya. Minsan, ‘Bakit ganon teenager pa rin ang tingin nila sa akin?’ Eh si Enchong naman nasa tamang edad na to tackle more mature roles. In fact, marami na rin siya na-experience sa buhay. Given his talent and looks, mas marami siyang roles na pwedeng gampanan na mapapakita niya yung totoo niyang talent. Manager niya ako noh,” the comedienne cheerfully stated.

In Tuhog, Enchong plays the role of a teenager who’s torn between staying faithful to his girlfriend who’s based in the province or losing his virginity to a girl due to peer pressure. He shared that he easily identified with his character because he had similar issues during his teenage years. “I have to be honest na lahat ng lalaki bago lumabas sa pagka puberty dadaan sa pagka-maniac stage. Pero during high school years, tumatakbo sa utak natin yun minsan sa school or minsan sa bahay. Yun ang subject ng utak natin—losing our virginity, is it still an issue losing our virginity, makakasabay ka ba sa mga kaibigan mo while everyone is losing their virginity, if you’re left out… Madali daanan yun kasi napagdaanan ko na. pero I think everyone especially sa mga older batch makakarelate kasi napagdaanan na nila yun, yung excitement to lose their virginity.”

Asked if losing his virginity is an issue for him, he easily replied, “Hindi kasi 2014 na. Ewan ko ha. Personally, I believe na bawat tao may ibang paniniwala. Siguro, kung paano mo lang iha-handle dun lang magiging issue.”

While some people believe in reserving their first kiss until marriage like a few celebrity couples, Enchong said that he has a different take on the matter. “Naniniwala ako na dapat may experience kayo before para matest ni’yo yung relationship niyo. Para hindi nagkakaproblema kapag kasal na kayo.”

Agree or Disagree: Philippines Among Most Gay-Friendly in the World

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Source: www.inquirer.net

The Philippines has earned its ranking as one of few gay-friendly countries in the world.

Of the 39 countries covered by a global survey, only 17 countries had majorities that accepted homosexuality, with the Philippines ranking at number 10 among the 17.

Despite its religiosity, the Philippines is one of the countries in the world where the level of public “acceptance” of homosexuals is high, according to the results of the survey.

The survey titled “The Global Divide on Homosexuality” conducted by the US-based Pew Research Center showed that 73 percent of adult Filipinos agreed with the statement that “homosexuality should be accepted by society,” up by nine percentage points from 2002.

The percentage of Filipinos who said society should not accept gays fell from 33 percent in 2002 to 26 percent this year, it added.

This high level of acceptance, which is comparable to that found in secular western Europe, is even higher than those found in Japan (54 percent), South Korea (39 percent) or the United States (60 percent), where some states allow gay marriage.

“Brazilians and Filipinos are considerably more tolerant of homosexuality than their countries’ relatively high levels of religiosity would suggest,” the Pew survey report said.

The Philippines bucked the trend found in the survey showing that gays are mostly accepted in rich and secularized countries.

“The survey … finds that acceptance of homosexuality is particularly widespread in countries where religion is less central in people’s lives. These are also among the richest countries in the world,” the Pew report said.

“In contrast, in poorer countries with high levels of religiosity, few believe homosexuality should be accepted by society,” it added.

Religiosity scale

The Philippines is said to be one of the most religious countries in the world and almost a third of its population lives below the poverty line. In the survey’s “religiosity scale” where a score of “3” was the most religious, the Philippines almost got 2.5.

“Age is also a factor in several countries, with younger respondents offering far more tolerant views than older ones,” the survey report said.

And while gender differences are not prevalent, in those countries where they are, women are consistently more accepting of homosexuality than men,” it added.

In the Philippines, 78 percent of those aged 18-29 who were interviewed said gays should be accepted, 71 percent for those aged 30-49, and 68 percent for those 50 years old and above, according to the survey.

The report also showed that of the eight countries surveyed in the Asia-Pacific region, the Philippines had the second highest acceptance rate next to Australia’s 79 percent.

“In the Asia-Pacific region, where views of homosexuality are mostly negative, more than seven in 10 in Australia and the Philippines say homosexuality should be accepted by society,” the report said.

In contrast, only three percent of people in neighboring Indonesia, nine percent in Malaysia and 21 percent in China said homosexuality should be accepted, the report added.

Not impressed

However, Filipino gay groups were not impressed by the survey results.

When asked if the gay community in the Philippines felt accepted, Jonas Bagas, executive director of the TLF Share Collective, said: “Hardly.”

“I think that the study only reflects the perceived acceptance of the LGBT community based on the high visibility of gay entertainers. It’s acceptance [that is] contingent on how you fit the acceptable stereotype—the gay entertainer, the creative, talented bakla, the lesbian security guard,” Bagas said.

“Once you go outside these stereotypes, that’s when you encounter rejection,” he added.

Bagas said a Filipino student in a lesbian relationship faces higher probability of getting kicked out of her school than a student in a heterosexual relationship.

“We still have strong biases against gay sex, which for many is still deemed immoral and unnatural. This attitude fosters inequality in our laws, in education, healthcare and even within the family,” Bagas said.

The Pew report said those who conducted the survey had face-to-face interviews with 804 Filipinos aged 18 and above from March 10 to April 3 this year. The interviews were conducted in Tagalog, Cebuano, Ilonggo, Ilocano and Bicolano.

The survey had a margin of error of plus or minus 4.5 percent.

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