Gigil: Do you use the new word for something adorable?
Ever feel the urge to cuddle a cute puppy? Same.
- Published
You know when you see a puppy and it's SO cute, you can't help but make a funny noise?
Well that feeling now has an official word in the Oxford English Dictionary - gigil.
It means, "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".
Gigil - pronounced ghee-gill - has been added to the OED as part of a list of words or phrases that can't be translated into the English language.
They say it was originally used by the Tagalog people who are native to the Philippines, but has also been used in Philippine English since around 1990.
Why don't you see if you can use "gigil" to describe something today?!
Another word which has been added to the English dictionary is salakot.
Another Filipino word that has been included in the latest update is salakot, which is a type of woven hat traditionally worn by farmers as a protection from the sun.
It has now become an important part of Filipino culture and is now also worn during festivals and cultural celebrations.
The names of many world food items have also been included in this latest update, which happens four times a year.
For example, a ketupat is a small rice cake boiled in a pouch of woven palm leaves, originally created in Indonesia but also popular in Brunei, Malaysia, and Singapore.
The Oxford English Dictionary contains more than 600,000 words and other new words have been carried over from the languages of South Africa. Malaysia and Ireland.