The hyphen is the private part of a female journalist – Erap

(Part II of the “War of the Proses” Series)

 
Thus, Poet-pundit Fred Burce Bunao came up with one his many jokes about Erap, the Filipino who likes to speak English when the King’s language does not like him. This writer, however, says that ERAP is an acronym for “English Resembling Americanized Pigeon (Pidgin).” In fact, I have been gathering materials for a series of articles called “ERAP-Speak,” which may become a book someday. Its subtitle is, “How Some Immigrants Speak English.”

Actually I wrote earlier about the Erap “hyphen” joke in this article, Top Ten Reasons for Knowing that a Writer Is Not a Journalist , which was dated Sept. 21, 2007. To view more of the ERAP-Speak jokes, please go to Restarting the "ERAP-Speak" Collection of Anecdotes.

This instant article is an offshoot of a comment made by a reader of my lampoon of an article, Defending Filipino Congressmen and Politicians Who See Manny Pacquiao’s Title Bouts in Vegas. This new critic of mine goes by the screen name, . The comments were: “Pacquiao's fight is on June 28, not June 29. Also, avoid the excessive use of hyphens, as in ‘more-than one-million Filipino-American tourists . . ."

I replied to Mr. Fil-Am Press (notice my insertion of the hyphen) with these words:

“Thank you for your correction, Dear Friend at the Fil-Am Press. 
 
“But in regard to the use of the hyphen, I am merely following what I learned in the San Beda College’s School of Journalism and from what my literary mentor, Poet-pundit Fred Burce Bunao, has been teaching me. 
 
“Here is what I wrote about Mr. Bunao and the use of the hyphen: 
 
“QUOTE. 
“Mr. Corrales asked Mr. Bunao and me to look at, and perhaps edit, his manuscript of a short story. Mr. Bunao read the introduction of the writer, which said, ‘Bob Corrales is a Filipino-American short story writer.’ Mr. Bunao said that a hyphen should be inserted between ‘short’ and ‘story.’ Mr. Corrales, who is an inch or so taller than Mr. Bunao, asked why the need for the hyphen? Mr. Bunao said that the adjective ‘short’ refers to the story and not to the writer.  
“UNQUOTE. 
 
“You can read the entire article, The Wit, Wisdom and Humor of Fred Burce Bunao ,  by going to the column, Bunaoisms . Or just type in ‘Hyphen’ in this website’s ‘Search this Site’ button.”

Yes, Mr. Bunao is my literary mentor and I have been following his teachings on hyphens, lessons of which I learned also as a student in the then School of Journalism of my alma mater, San Beda College (SBC). As I crack in jest, the Benedictine monks who run SBC decided to phase out journalism after they saw my writings. They said allegedly that “it is not worth it if the School of Journalism could only turn out graduates like Bobby Reyes.” (My class was the second to the last batch of journalism majors.)

Jesse Jose asks, “Is he one of those journalists ‘na pinabili lang ng suka, pagbalik journalist na’? (‘He was asked only to buy vinegar and when he came back, he was already a journalist.’)”

Please read also in the “Users’ Comments” after the Pacquiao article the remarks of Jesse Jose, who said, “Who's that dork at Filampress? Is he one of those journalists ‘na pinabili lang ng suka, pagbalik journalist na’? (‘He was asked only to buy vinegar and when he came back, he was already a journalist.’) He sounds like one of them to me.”

Another reader, a certain “Danrey” said, “Good retort, Bobby! Can't help but notice FILAMPRESS person's comment. Uncouth and tactless, isn't he? But to defend my friend in his usage of hyphens, let it be known that such deviations from the formal and grammatical rules are often used either to prove a point, or offset his thoughts from the real subject or merely just used to catch the readers’ attention. Sure caught his eye, right? Me, I love using a series of periods....meaning I pause and mull over an idea then continue writing....I have had a wonderful mentor an editor, a graduate of the University of Wisconsin who taught me a lot about writing and grammar. You see, I have my MA in English, too. You do not have to be schooled to be able to write effectively. Like my professor had advised, write and speak from the heart. You will see that people will understand you more and appreciate what you say. Keep on writing Bobby. Love your commentaries. Mr. Filampress must be @#$%^&@@ with text messaging. That screws up our kids’ vocabulary and spelling abilities. Let him comment on that one.”

Oh, where are we? Ah, let us go back to the title of this article. There are really no “hyphenated Americans.” Why? Many writers, including some staff members of the mainstream media like the Los Angeles Times, do not really know when to use the hyphen. The “hyphenated Americans,” as an idiom, came into use when some writers mistakenly wrote, “Filipino-Americans” or “Chinese-Americans” and so on and so forth. According to my SBC journalism professors and Mr. Bunao, the American who is of Filipino descent is called “Filipino American” (without the hyphen). But he/she belongs to the “Filipino-American community.” A hyphen is needed between “Filipino” and “American” because the noun is “community.” The words “Filipino” and “American” are only adjectives for “community.”

It is amazing to read what some self-proclaimed “journalists” write. More-often than not, they do not know also when to put the “s” in “regard.” Many of these trying-hard-wannabe writers don’t know the rule: “As regards” (With “S”), “in regard to” (No “S”) and “with regard” (No “S”). My journalism professors and Mr. Bunao did not create the rules but trained writers are obliged to follow the rules of grammar (and the style books of publications).

I forgot now who among my Filipino journalism professors said, “You have to go by the style book when you work someday for a newspaper because only people who have won the Nobel Prize for Literature are allowed by publishers to set up their own rules in grammar.”

And this brings us to what Mr. Jose wrote about (and which admittedly Chicago-based multi-awarded journalist, Joseph G. Lariosa, was the first use in his online postings). The Filipino-American media have many guys (and gals) who were asked simply to buy vinegar and when they came back, they proclaimed themselves to be already journalists.

Take this guy who studied engineering in a Philippine university and became a real-estate salesman when he migrated to Sacramento, California. Suddenly, he started writing a column and dishes out articles after articles, the contents of which often he copies online and from reference books – without bothering to identify or credit his sources. He is actually the guy described in Reasons 10, 5 and 4 in the article, Top Ten Reasons for Knowing that a Writer Is Not a Journalist. And Mr. Lariosa coined a word in describing his literary output, which is “perrytale,” as in writing fairy tales. For a list of articles in this website that enumerates the literary misadventures of this wannabe writer, just type in “perrytale” in the “Search” button of this website.

I decided to include this article as a part of an ongoing series of articles called, “The War of the Proses (sic).” Because it is high time for the Filipino-American community to require those who want to write in the Filipino-American press to observe the tenets of journalism and know the fundamentals of the English grammar. (As in mandating for Filipino-American writers to know how and when to use the hyphen.) And Filipino Americans must require their leaders and “journalists” to be able to write and speak grammatically-right English and not mere “Carabao English” (AKA ERAP-Speak). Otherwise, both the Filipino-American press and the community leadership become the laughing stock in the United States, especially in the American corridors of power and influence. No Filipino-American leader can be able to exert political or even socio-economic influence if other Americans cannot understand what he/she is talking (or writing) about. Perhaps the Filipino-American community must require a Filipino American not only to be conversant in grammatically-right English but also have the proficiency to write well in the King’s language or else go back to the Filipino homeland where he/she can be tolerated for doing the ERAP-Speak and even become the country’s President. # # #

To read Part One of this series, please go to: The "War of the Proses (sic)" – Its Beginning

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