One of the often overlooked features of language is that it’s constantly evolving and adapting. A fascinating aspect of this evolution is the incorporation of “untranslatable” words from various languages into English. These loanwords fill lexical gaps, offering nuanced expressions previously lacking in English.
There’s an important reason for these additions. At any given time, a language can adequately capture only a certain part of the human experience. But with humans constantly engaging with the world in new ways and interacting with different cultures, languages are forced to add to their linguistic arsenal to keep up.
Loaning words is an easy way to do this because a different culture or language often has already articulated an idea with a specific word for it. When these terms capture universal experiences, they frequently enter foreign lexicons. For instance, the recent addition of the Tagalog word “gigil” to the Oxford English Dictionary exemplifies this phenomenon. Defined as “the irresistible urge to pinch or squeeze something unbearably cute,” “gigil” articulates a feeling we’ve all had but couldn’t name with a singular term in English. Well, now we can.
Recent Additions to the English Lexicon
Language borrowing is an ongoing process. The Oxford English Dictionary’s March 2025 update reflects how globalized English has become. This update included words from Tagalog, Malay, Irish, Jamaican Patois, Yoruba, and more. These words capture feelings, reactions, or phenomena that English previously had no succinct way to express. Here’s a look at some of the most striking recent additions:
- Alamak (Malay): An exclamation of surprise, shock, or dismay. Roughly equivalent to “Oh no!” or “Yikes!” in English.
- Séis (Irish): A musical or melodic phrase; also refers to rhythm or a tune’s signature lilt in traditional Irish music.
- Pickney (Jamaican Patois): A child or young person. Derived from the Portuguese pequenino (small one).
- Ósanyìn (Yoruba): Refers to a herbalist, healer, or the spiritual force associated with nature and medicinal knowledge in Yoruba tradition.
- Kilig (Tagalog): That fluttery, giddy feeling one gets when something romantic or adorable happens, especially related to crushes or love.
- Mokita (Kivila, Papua New Guinea): The truth everyone knows but no one says aloud; a collectively unspoken reality.
- Sobremesa (Spanish): The time spent lingering around the table after a meal, engaging in relaxed conversation.
These words are not only functional additions to the English language; they carry the cultural textures of their origins. They fill in semantic gaps, providing vivid ways to express subtle shades of human experience that English previously lacked. In doing so, they highlight the deeply interconnected nature of our global languages and lives.
English Words in Other Languages
If English is often the borrower, it also knows how to give back. Thanks to globalization, pop culture, and the internet, English has become the world’s most influential linguistic exporter. And while not all exports are equally embraced, there’s no denying English has left its lexical fingerprints on dozens of world languages.
Let’s look at some notable examples where English terms have been adopted, adapted, and sometimes hilariously reimagined in other languages:
Computer
One of the most widely borrowed English terms, computer is used as-is or in slightly modified forms worldwide. For example, it’s called kompyuter in Russian and kompiutā in Japanese katakana.
Cool
Used globally to express approval or admiration, cool has found a home in dozens of languages, from German (cool), to Spanish (cool or guay depending on region), to Japanese. Its flexibility and universal appeal have made it one of English’s most successful linguistic exports.
Weekend
In French it’s ‘le weekend’; German, ‘das Wochenende’; and in Arabic it’s a transliterated term for ‘weekend.’ This English calendar concept has been widely adopted, especially as the two-day rest period becomes the norm in more places globally.
Marketing
In many languages, this business buzzword has been imported wholesale. You’ll hear ‘marketing’ used as a term in Russian boardrooms and Italian ad agencies alike.
These linguistic adoptions reveal just as much about the borrowing culture as the lending one. Whether it’s driven by economic influence, cultural fascination, or just the lack of a better native term, the incorporation of English words abroad is a fascinating window into globalization and the malleability of language itself.
And The Cycle Continues
Language is a living archive of shared human experience, constantly shaped by contact, curiosity, and culture. Whether it’s giggling over gigil or enjoying a sobremesa with friends, loanwords remind us that some feelings are too universal to be confined by borders. As English continues to borrow and lend terms across the globe, it grows ever more vibrant, textured, and human. So next time you use a “foreign” word, remember: you’re speaking a worldlier English than you think.
