Oxford English Dictionary Announces New Words From Around The World: See List

Struggling to describe the moment when you come across something cute? Well, not any longer. There is a word for it now, courtesy of the Oxford English Dictionary (OED). The expression is called — Gigil

The Oxford English Dictionary has included a list of “untranslatable” words from other languages — without English equivalents — and gigil is one among them. This marks the first official addition of new words from international languages to the OED, available in the March 2025 update.

Here's a list of the latest OED update additions from Southeast Asia, South Africa, and Ireland:

Gigil

The untranslatable term gigil, which comes from the Tagalog language of the Philippines, means “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.”

It is described as a “feeling we get when we see someone or something cute” “whether it be a chubby-cheeked baby or a fluffy little kitten.”

Gigil is described as a “pithy name” for a “strange, paradoxical emotion” and can also be used as an adjective to characterise the person who is feeling it, besides using it as a noun.

Besides gigil, other newly added Philippine words are 'salakot', a lightweight, wide-brimmed hat often donned by farmers, and 'videoke', the national sport and localised form of karaoke with a scoring system.

Alamak

Borrowed from Malay, Alamak is a colloquial expression used in Singapore and Malaysia to “convey surprise, shock, dismay, or outrage” also made the list. However, most of the newly added terms from these two countries are names of dishes, demonstrating their passion for food.

These include 'fish head curry', a Chinese-South Indian dish where a large fish head is cooked in a curry made with tamarind; 'steamboat,' a dish of thinly sliced meat and vegetables prepared in a broth kept simmering in a heated pot; and 'kaya toast,' a popular breakfast option consisting of toasted bread coated with a jam made from eggs, sugar, coconut milk, and pandan leaves.

Yoh

The dictionary also included a few South African words, such as the mimicking phrase Yoh, which is a “cry or exclamation” in South African English. The word is used to “express various emotions or reactions, such as surprise, wonder, admiration, shock, or distress.”

Another new South African term is ‘sharp-sharp,' which can signify two different meanings. First, it can be used as a casual greeting or farewell. Secondly, it can be used to complement someone's style.

Two terms related to feelings of rage and fury from Afrikaans are also included in the list. The adjective ‘gatvol,' refers to someone who has had enough and is “extremely annoyed, unhappy, or bored, especially with a state of affairs that has persisted for a long time.”

The ‘hell-in' is a slang term used predicatively to describe someone who is “furious or fed up.” It is based on the Afrikaans phrase “die hel in,” which means “in the hell” in literal translation.