10 Filipino Slang Words That Took Over Our Group Chats in 2025

(SPOT.ph) It doesn’t take much for memes to slip into everyday language. This year, Filipino slang was pulled from everywhere: old TV clips, TikTok rants, and phrases we’ve technically always used but suddenly had a fresh, addictive ring to them.

Some of these words don’t really make much sense—like “soafer” and “bigla kang sumakses”—but others reveal something about the political, social, and economic realities many of us are dealing with. For instance, “nepo baby” became a shorthand for calling out corruption without having to spell everything out. Either way, these new slangs are fun to use—and hard to avoid once they catch on.

Whatever made them stick, here are 10 slang words and phrases that defined how Filipinos talked online this year—and, eventually, how we talked offline, too.

Gen Zs and Gen Alphas have been dominating slang these days, but why not make space for Millennials, too?

“Trentahin” comes from the Spanish word trenta (30). It’s what people say when someone starts leaning into the energy or mood often associated with being in your thirties. Complaining about noise? Trentahin. Calling it a night at 10 p.m.? Trentahin. Choosing comfort over style? Trentahin. It also works as an adjective: trentahin gifts, trentahin hobbies, trentahin plans. Instead of panicking about getting older, Filipinos do what they always do—turn it into a light-hearted joke we can own for ourselves.

The term has even been named FTTM’s 2025 Word of the Year.

If you know what OA means, then you already understand the idea behind “over naman sa ____.” It’s a phrase Filipinos use when someone is clearly doing too much—overreacting, oversharing, or overthinking—but not in a way that calls for a serious confrontation.

You can attach it to almost anything: “over naman sa ask!” or “over naman sa story!”

You can’t talk about this year’s top slang without mentioning “What hafen Vella?”

The phrase comes from an It’s Showtime performance by Cristopher Diwata, a Taylor Lautner lookalike who played Jacob Black from Twilight. As part of the parody, he tried to console an imaginary Bella Swan, in broken English, delivering an over-the-top monologue that even included a brief striptease.

Diwata’s monologue went like this: “What hafen, Vella? Why you crying again? I know... vamfire, rayts? Vamfayr will feyt to me!” before turning to an imaginary Edward Cullen to say: "Edward! What are you doing here? I trusted you to protek Vella. But you did not. I will sure you die, Edward! I will sure you die! From now on, she is mine.”  

The line “What hafen, Vella?” wasn’t meant to make any sort of mark the first time it broke thru noontime television—it just so happened it was how Diwata pronounced “What happened, Bella?” Now it's become the go-to reaction that expresses confusion, disbelief, or chaos. It’s also very easy to use as a reaction meme.

The funniest part about all this is that nowhere in Twilight does Jacob Black ever utter those lines, with or without the Vs and the Fs.

Read more: What Hafen Vella? How a Twilight Parody Took Over the Internet

“Na para bang” isn’t exactly a new phrase, but it did find new life on social media.

Online, Filipinos use “na para bang” to make something sound way more dramatic than it actually is, usually as a joke. Working during the holiday break? Na para bang taga-pagmana ka ng kumpanya. Buying the latest iPhone? Na para bang ang dami mong pera. Defending a political leader in the comments section on Facebook? Na para bang kasali ka sa troll farm. The fun is in the exaggeration.

Technically, this isn’t limited to Filipino usage. The term “nepo baby” entered mainstream pop culture around 2022, usually referring to Hollywood celebrities with famous parents in the industry. Over time, it took on a negative implication that success was only made possible through family connections.

In the Philippines, the term made noise in the realm of politics. "Nepo baby” referred to political heirs, many of them previously non-public figures but, as soon as the flood control scandals broke out, were being called out on social media for flaunting lavish lifestyles allegedly funded by taxpayer money.

Read more: Why Claudine Co’s Name Is All Over Your Feed

No need to overthink this one. “Soafer” is basically a phonetic twist on “super,” so it’s used the same way—as an exaggerated superlative. You’ll usually see it pop up to emphasize just how intense something is, whether good or bad. Think “soafer ganda!” or “soafer hirap!”

If you can’t believe this phrase only emerged this year, it’s because it didn’t (sorry). It started going viral sometime in December 2024, but it definitely spilled over into 2025 as everyone entered the new year with high hopes for what was ahead.

The line comes from a longer video of a personality named Niña, who delivered this short, oddly inspiring speech: “Nag-imagine ka, nakikita mo sa imagine mo: ‘Wow, ang taas ko na.’ Makikita mo sa imagine mo, bigla kang sumakses eh. Pero step by the step pala, bago ka sumakses... pero yung na-imagine mo, bigla kang sumakses.”

This phrase stuck for one reason: how it sounded. Her broken English made it easy to repeat. Now, “bigla kang sumakses” gets thrown around whenever someone is doing well in love, career, or life in general. At this point, it’s basically another way of saying congratulations to someone.

“Sobrang Latina” is a compliment—plain and simple.

It began circulating after Filipino content creator Sesable hyped up her own makeup look with the line, “Sobrang Latina!” It’s likely because her makeup leaned into the bold, bronzed, full-glam look people usually associate with Latina beauty. But really, it's her delivery that did most of the work.

From there, the phrase took on a life of its own. What started as a way to hype up makeup transformations has now become an all-encompassing catchphrase for anything and everything fabulous. Anything can be "Sobrang Latina" if you say it with enough conviction.

Read more: "Sobrang Latina!": Where Did This Viral Phrase Come From?

“Okay na ’to” has always existed in everyday Filipino conversation—but this year, it became a mindset. The phrase took off after the online community started noticing TikTok cook and showbiz mom Mommy Grace Tanfelix use it repeatedly at the end of her home cooking videos, without fail.

Online, “okay na ’to” stopped being exclusively associated with food. It's what you say when you decide to be content with what you did or have. A haircut that didn’t turn out how you imagined? Okay na ’to. A rushed output? Okay na ’to. It shows up a lot in jokes about meeting deadlines, giving the bare minimum, and choosing peace over perfection. Not amazing, not terrible, just... okay na ’to.

Read more: “Okay Na ‘To”: Where Did This Viral Phrase Come From?

Another term from Western media, “organic encounter” refers to meeting someone naturally, without dating apps, setups, or forced introductions. As more people got tired of swiping, it wasn’t surprising that we started romanticizing the idea of meeting someone the pre-internet way. It's what Millennials might know as a “meet-cute” or plain old serendipity—you know, just like that romcom Gen Xers like to rewatch.

Of course, Filipinos being Filipinos, the idea didn’t stay serious hereabouts. TikTok is now full of skits poking fun at the fantasy of manifesting an “organic encounter” in the Philippines. In theory, this would look like bumping into someone on your commute or at a coffee shop. In reality, how many of us are actually brave enough—or even have the time—to approach someone we’re attracted to? So yes, we’ll stick to skits for now.