We decided in favor of this name because it epitomizes the Cebuano mentality. Whereas in a lot of other places - and not just in other countries - people may get upset easily, Cebuanos will often smile and tell you: No Problem!
The expression "wa'y blima" is colloquial, and it is an abbreviation; perhaps the English equivalent, if it existed, would be "noblem." In Cebuano "no problem" is correctly stated as "wala ang problema." This can be abbreviated to "wala'y problema" and finally "wala'y blema".
Since the vowels "i" and "e" are interchangeable in Cebuano for most words and no standardized spelling exists for the Cebuano language, "wa'y blema" can also be spelled "wa'y blima". We opted for this spelling not only because it is more interesting, but because it is closer to the actual pronounciation most Cebuanos employ for this word.
When told the name of our website, Cebuanos are often incredulous at first, and then erupt into laughter. In Cebu it is (unfortunately) still considered tasteless to use native words for businesses and projects - even the tiniest bakery in the poorest barrio will sport an English or at least Anglicanized name.
Visitors from overseas, meanwhile, have terrible difficulty pronouncing "wa'y blima". But the pronounciation is only hard if you try to follow the spelling; what you want to do is ignore the spelling and just say "why blimma!"
The uniqueness of our name, the apostrophe, plus the fact that "no problem" can be abbreviated in a number of different ways, has caused some confusion, and Cebuanos in particular sometimes have a hard time reaching our website. Some have tried to look for www.wayblema.com or wayblema.com; meanwhile, there is at least one non-functional link on the Internet pointing to www.wa'yblima.com!
However, we have no regrests for choosing "Wa'y Blima!" as opposed to a trite and predictable name ("Cebu This" or "Cebu That") not only because it exemplifies the casual warmth of the Visayan culture, but also because the name's validity will not be lost when this web portal expands in scope to cover other islands and cities in the Visayas region. "Wa'y Blima!" is just as representative of Leyte and Negros as of Cebu.
