Pinoy was used for self-identification by the first wave of Filipinos going to the continental United States before World War II and has been used both in a pejorative sense as well as a term of endearment similar to Chicano.
and III respectively), 'Totoy' for Augusto, etc.).
The word is formed by taking the last four letters of Filipino and adding the diminutive suffix -y in the Tagalog language (the suffix is commonly used in Filipino nicknames: 'Ninoy' or 'Noynoy' for Benigno ( Jr. Pinoy is an informal demonym referring to some of the Filipino people in the Philippines and overseas Filipinos around the world.Īn unspecified number of Filipinos refer to themselves as Pinoy or sometimes the feminine Pinay.
