Pinoy

Pinoy - Filipinos affectionately call their compatriots, "Pinoy," in the Philippines and around the world.

Filipinos usually refer to themselves informally as Pinoy (feminine: Pinay), which is formed by taking the last four letters of Pilipino and adding the diminutive suffix -y. The word was coined by expatriate Filipino Americans during the 1920's and was later adopted by Filipinos in the Philippines.

Pinoy is a term of endearment and is rarely used in formal settings. The term is akin to that of a nickname which is used by close family members and friends so that one who uses it somehow already developed some close ties with Filipinos.

The term especially gained popular currency in the late 1970's in the Philippines when a surge in nationalistic pride made a hit song of Filipino folksinger Heber Bartolome's "Tayo'y mga Pinoy" (We are Filipinos).

In the United States, the term sounds very lame. Some Americans say that Pinoy means "Little Big Tone Cock." Many Filipino Americans would rather use the term Flip instead.