Friends, I’m here to help.
I am once again offering a valuable primer to those foreigners still struggling to comprehend the English language as rendered in local newspapers.
Yes, I, too, know how difficult it is to pick up a paper, read a headline, see words like "SLAY BRAINS," "SOLON" or "SALVAGE," and consider briefly that you’ve slipped down a wormhole into an alternate, Looney-Tunes universe where words are selected mainly for their comic effect.
Fear not. I shall try to enlighten the novice reader on these terms and others. You will, within minutes, gain the solid journalistic foundation that it has taken me eight years to acquire. Lucky you.
A preface. It’s important to note that odd words found in local headlines are there for two reasons: 1) They’re shorter, thus allowing space for more information in a two-line header, and 2) Newsroom editors here cling to archaic forms of English left behind during the American occupation.
The second reason is really the crux of the matter. If you spend any time around news offices here, you will notice a couple of things. First, the main dictionary in most newsrooms was printed around 1950. Second, those who hand down decisions on English usage haven’t opened this dictionary since around 1950.
This might explain the frequent use of outdated terms such as solon to describe local politicians. My wife reminds me that, while pursuing her journalism masters at Boston University, she submitted an article in which she used the word "solon." She was reprimanded by a snot-nosed professor who returned her paper with a single comment written in the margin: "Archaic."
Obviously, that professor hadn’t spent any time in the Philippines. Here, solon still has as much active duty as when it was first coined in 1625. Back then it referred to "a wise and thoughtful lawgiver or member of a legislative body" (Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate). Clearly, the word has lost much of its precise meaning in today’s political environment. Either that or local news editors just love being ironic.
Another frequently-used term is salvage, a peculiar Filipino usage that has acquired its precise opposite meaning. Here, to "salvage" means "to do away with, dispatch, dismember or make disappear completely." (My definition.) In headlines, it never refers to its dictionary definition of saving, restoring or reclaiming something. It refers to summary execution and disposal of bodies. My guess is that the term was coined by Marcos goons who had an ironic sense of humor, or else a poor grasp of English. (The word’s proximity to "savage" should also be noted.)
Whenever someone is salvaged here, there follows a lengthy investigation (see probe) which tries to determine the slay brains behind the killing. As needlessly colorful as this term is, it simply refers to a mastermind, a kingpin, a head honcho. Some editor must have decided long ago that the two words fit together like peanut butter and jelly, thus "slay brains" continues to make frequent appearances in local headlines.
Often, when local authorities find an unfortunate salvage victim, the body parts are scattered far and wide, hither and yon. This often leads to the tabloidish header: "Lead Sought in Chop-Chop Killing."
Chop-chop is exactly what it sounds like: someone dismembering a body. It should in no way be confused with Cha-Cha, which is not a local dance, but a recurring call to alter the constitution in a way beneficial to one political side or another. It’s short for "Charter Change."
Here’s a list of other colorful newspaper terms:
Black Propaganda – Only in the Philippines have I encountered this one. It refers to malicious slander, or false claims made against someone. Certainly, "slander" is a more elegant, legalistic term for such an activity, plus it’s shorter. But it’s definitely not as colorful. Note that only the victim of black propaganda is in a position to term it thus. To the accuser, it’s simply the truth, and as is so often stated in the Philippines, "The truth shall set you free."
Frame-Up – One of many instances where a verb is transformed into a noun by Filipino usage, often by simply adding "up" to the word. A victim of a frame-up certainly has reason to fear black propaganda. (Not to be confused with Team-Up or Tie-Up, which refer to political alliances.)
Hog-tied – Also not to be confused with Tie-Up, this is a journalistic term employed when someone is bound and gagged by burglars or kidnappers. It has a specific meaning going back to 1894, when pigs’ feet were tied together to make them more submissive for slaughter. Not a very flattering term in any sense, is it? Yet it’s most often the way victims are found here, both hands and feet bound from behind with rope. Again, colorful, if a bit archaic.
Pot Session – In local newspapers, the term "Pot Session" still gets used by nondiscriminating editors to describe any drug bust, whether it’s for shabu, cocaine, Ecstasy or animal tranquilizers. The arrest rarely involves marijuana. The absence of bongs, rolling papers or Visine notwithstanding, many editors still find it easier to whip out the police- blotter term for any arrest in which drugs are being consumed.
Gun-Poking Incident – Here, carrying a gun in public is not necessarily a crime. Displaying it in public isn’t a problem either. But once the offender whips it out and starts nuzzling the barrel into someone’s gut, then it becomes a "Gun-Poking Incident" worthy of headlines. However, it helps if the offender is a solon of some kind, prone to public outbursts of explosive anger. Again, it’s an invented Filipino idiom that colorfully captures the offense.
Probe – Refers to an examination of some kind, and is definitely shorter than "investigation." Usually conducted by a legislative body to ferret out corruption, it often spreads to other unrelated areas of interest. And like some medical probes, Filipino versions often only run skin deep.
Cagers – Sportswriting here yields a number of terms that have long been retired in other parts of the world. The use of "cage" as a verb in sports dates back to 1577 (Merriam-Webster’s), as in "to drive into a cage to score a goal." It specifically referred to a game played with a puck, such as hockey. But there’s no hockey played here, and how the term came to refer to basketball players is anyone’s guess.
Tilt – Refers to any sporting event or contest here, whether it’s boxing or chess. The original meaning refers to a joust on horseback, cited as early as 1511. Again, not much horse jousting going on in the Philippines, but the term lives on.
Bets – The contestants in any race, contest or "tilt." Use of "bets" in the sporting or political context perhaps says much about the wagering mentality among many Filipinos.
Savants – This is a wonderfully obscure usage, referring to scientists or experts. (Example: "NASA Savants Predict Large Comet") A savant is simply someone with knowledge in their field; a learned person; a scholar. Certainly the word is shorter than "scientists," but it’s the same length as "experts." How the term became equated with "scientist" in local journalese is a mystery best left to the savants.