Overcome when struck by cuteness? There’s a word for that feeling
The Tagalog word “gigil” is among 42 new additions to the Oxford English Dictionary that are untranslatable or have no direct English equivalents.
It can be hard to describe that feeling of being overcome by the unbearable cuteness of a fluffy little cat or a chubby-cheeked baby. But there’s now an official word for it in English: gigil.
Borrowed from Tagalog, one of the primary languages of the Philippines, gigil is among 42 words that are untranslatable or have no direct English equivalents that have been added to the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) in March.
Gigil (pronounced “ghee-gill”), which the OED says dates to 1990 and is also used in Philippine English, refers to a feeling “so intense that it gives us the irresistible urge to tightly clench our hands, grit our teeth, and pinch or squeeze whomever or whatever it is we find so adorable,” according to the OED’s latest update.
It can be used both as a noun identifying the feeling itself as well as an adjective for a person experiencing that feeling, as in “I’m so gigil.”
The newest dictionary additions include loanwords from Southeast Asia, South Africa and Ireland.
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