The Oxford English Dictionary contains 600,000 word forms, give or take, but it's about to squeeze in a few dozen more. The New York Times reports that the esteemed English-language resource has made its latest quarterly update, adding 42 "untranslatable" words or terms to its pages from South Africa, Ireland, and Southeast Asia. In a post on its website, the OED explains that "lexicalized" words found in certain languages often don't have English counterparts, and so over time, those words and terms often simply become absorbed into the English vernacular and, eventually, added to the dictionary.
Gigil, a Tagalog word out of the Philippines, is getting the most attention in this latest revision: The OED describes it as "a feeling we get when we see someone or something cute, 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, whether it be a chubby-cheeked baby or a fluffy little kitten." Here, 10 more intriguing terms added this go-around:
- Alamak (Malyasia): an interjection expressing shock, dismay, or outrage
- Zol (South Africa): colloquial for "marijuana"
- Ludraman (Ireland): a lazy, unproductive, or stupid person
- Gatvol (South Africa): having had enough of a person or situation
- Mineral (Ireland): a carbonated soft drink
- Videoke (Philippines): local version of karaoke that uses a scoring system
- Moggy (South Africa): extremely irrational; out of touch with reality
- Act the maggot (Ireland): to behave foolishly
- Sharp-sharp (South Africa): a casual salutation
- Mat rempit (Malaysia): a (typically young) man who participates in illegal motorcycle street racing and often performs dangerous stunts
Check out what other terms made the list
here. (More
words stories.)
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