“Language is a wine upon the lips.”

I am so drunk with words that I could not recall the one who said that.

So, let’s just drink to SELFIE, till drunkenness do us part. Better yet,  let’s play with the word SELFIE with wild abandon. Let’s take a shot, not of ourselves as what we do in SELFIE but at the word SELFIE itself.

SELFIE can also be spelled as SELFY. But people are more familiar with the variant SELFIE.

The term SELFIE is not new at all. The word was said to have been minted by Jim Krause in 2005 although Richard Holden, online editor for Oxford Dictionaries, said that they found out that they have been using the word in Australia as far back as 2002.  The Wikipedia explains that “a SELFIE is a genre of self-portrait photograph, typically taken with a hand-held digital camera or camera phone.” Generally, self-portraiture dates back to ancient times.

SELFIE was The Oxford Dictionary’s 2013 word of the year. Then came USSIE (US-SELFIES) which could be called differently depending on the number of participants –  TWOFIE (two people) THREEFIE (three people) and so forth. Well, others call these variations as GROUFIE, and rarely do we hear or read USSIE.

I think WEFIE is better than GROUFIE.

Now, let’s frolic in the playground of language. Let’s play with the word SELFIE. Let’s see what derivatives can we squeeze out of it.

1. SELFIENATIC – a person who loves to take his self-portrait photos
2. SELFIEISM – the desire to take one’s self-portrait photos
3. SELFIEDOM – the sense of satisfaction a person feels after taking self-portrait photos
4. SELFIESTIC – describes an artistically-taken self-portrait photo
5. SELFIEGENIC – looking attractive in selfies
6. SELFIESTICATED – looking elegant in selfies

There are new fields of studies born out of SELFIE  (of course you know I am just making this up)  namely SELFIEGRAPHY and SELFIETHERAPY. The former is the art of taking self-portrait photos and the latter is the process of eradicating stress by taking self-portrait photos.

Now, if you try to convince other people to try SELFIGRAPHY then SELFINIZE them.

So, if you intend to join the SELFIENATICS, if suddenly you develop SEFIEISM then you will have to undergo SELFINIZATION…the process of initiating oneself  into SELFIEGRAPHY.

If ever a person has never taken even just a single self-portrait photo, then he is SELFIELESS.

If a person looks negatively at SELFIE or they have fear of self-portrait photographs then they may be suffering from SELFIETY.

Those people who are courageous in taking self-portrait photos and have fun doing it can be said to have high SELFIESTEEM.

Neither the people SELFIETYING nor those who have high SELFIESTEEM deserve condemnation. As the saying goes…”To each his own.”

To SELFIE or not to SELFIE is a personal call. If there are people who desire not to take their self-portrait photographs, that is within the bounds of their personal freedom. Conversely, those people who are having fun taking self-portrait photos be allowed to express themselves in a manner they see fit. But citizens of SELFIELANDIA need to exercise discretion. Bear in mind existing ethical standards. There should be a limit to the amount of skin that should be exposed. “Private properties” should remain private. Just a friendly (or is it fatherly?) advice. You may take it… or completely forget that I said it.

For the uninitiated, there is an 11th commandment: “Thou shall not commit SELFIETY.”

Come on! Take a SIP (self-inflicted photograph)! Check your SELFIESTEEM.

Citizens of SELFIELANDIA,  who may also be referred to as SELFIETIANS, do not forget the 12th commandment: “Thou shall not rest until the whole world is SELFIENIZED.

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First published on August 21, 2013:
https://madligaya.com/2013/08/21/selfie-playing-with-words/