From gigil, a Filipino word recently added to the Oxford English Dictionary’s most recent update. This contribution highlights the specific importance and timeliness of “gigil” in the contemporary linguistic landscape. This award is named in honor of this term, which originates from Tagalog, a key language spoken in the Philippines. It’s the best articulation of an experience that most people know deeply, but have trouble articulating.
Gigil includes a sense of yearning or craving, especially when you see something adorably cute or lovable. Indeed, the OED defines gigil as the noun that names the strangler’s son, that emotion. It can be an adjective to refer to a person undergoing this feeling. Vocabulary.com, of course, notes that gigil does extremely well on Instagram and in street definition. That would just demonstrate its increasing prevalence among English-speaking people.
The OED just added 42 new words this past March, and gigil is among them. It is perhaps the most famous of these untranslatable terms, the word without an English language equivalent. This inclusion finally gives musical heft to the word’s unique cultural significance and emotional depth.
“Gigil is 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.” – Oxford English Dictionary
Having entered Philippine English since its earliest recorded use in 1990, gigil is an example of a word familiar to many Filipinos. It is a sentiment that strikes an emotional chord with many people. Translating it into English is difficult without doing violence to it. The term captures an ineffable feeling that communicates energy, inspiration and budding wonder—greatly appropriate in many scenarios today, markedly in recent times.
The increasing prevalence of gigil in English discussions reflects a broader trend of incorporating words from different languages that express emotions uniquely. Globalization fuels dynamic cross-cultural interactions. In doing so, words like “gigil” become viral, adding to the English lexicon and providing its speakers with new tools to articulate emotions otherwise kept inside.