A strange thing. Every year, like a thief sneaking behind my back, something big and new gets added to the Filipino colloquial vocabulary.

Last year, the Friendster bulletin board was being flooded by "Heller!" I had no idea what that meant, and neither did my sister.. so when I finally touched base, there it is. The new "Hello". Heller?!??
And then this year. The new addition is "AMP" or "AMF" or "AMPNESS". Another word whose etymology is still suspect-- to me. The hell? Please, somebodY! what does this mean???

This is sorta like that year, I believe it was 1999, when I was out on hibernation... When I finally went out to greet the world, BAM! Suddenly, I'm hearing new words that I couldn't fathom.. Words that may or may not have significance in my life, that just the same, are there for the swallowing. Grammar and linguistics are usually my forte. But this here, ah that's the trick part.

To date, the biggest "new" word to me is "Partida". And this was something Eric, Whillie and Vincent had trouble teaching me to use. Ha-ha. I'm a slow learner when it comes to Filipino made-up/slang vocabulary. I think I used the better part of my Junior year in college trying to use "Partida" in a grammatically- and structurally-correct sentence.

But I graduated from that (although I am rarely in a situation that calls for using this word). So now, what's that word again? "AMP?!?!"