A NEW WORD!
Lexicology and etymology. And such. A New Word!
As a writer, I love language and words...the sound, their origin, the nuances of meaning.
OK, I openly admit this might be a little geeky but please indulge me for a moment.
You can imagine my glee when I recently read this headline, “Overwhelmed by Cuteness? There is a Word for That." Did you know that quarterly, the English dictionaries add untranslatable words from other languages. Some of them actually "stick" and become part of the English language over time, such as "banana"-- from West Africa--there was no English word when the British colonized; and "maize" adopted right here.
The Oxford English Dictionary promotes the new "adds," and here is a new one (of the 42 newly added untranslatable words) and I LOVE IT.
gigil (pronounced ghee-gill), a Tagalog word, that describes the feeling of being overwhelmed by an overload of adorableness
The NYT thinks golden retriever puppy. I would have to say, yes, very cute. However, "I felt so gigil when I picked Daisy up from her first grooming.”
I'm sure you can see what I mean.
This is a great new word—it doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue, but I am hoping for many opportunities to feel gigil. New babies, adorable animals, my grandchildren. I think life is good when you “got gigil.”
