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Gigil: The new word in the dictionary for overwhelming cuteness

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Gigil, a Philippine word added to the Oxford English Dictionary, describes the feeling we get when we see someone or something cute

Ever found yourself speechless in the presence of overwhelming cuteness, like your baby nephew or the cat video you saw on Instagram? There’s now a word for it: gigil.

Gigil (pronounced ghee-gill) is part of a list of “untranslatable” words, or those that do not have English equivalents, that have been added to the Oxford English Dictionary..

Taken from the Philippines’ Tagalog language, gigil is 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”.

Alamak, a colloquial exclamation used to convey surprise or outrage in Singapore and Malaysia, also made the list.

“Wouldn’t it be useful for English speakers to have a specific word for sunlight dappling through leaves… Or a word for the action of sitting outside enjoying a beer?” OED said in its latest update.

People who speak English alongside other languages fill lexical gaps by “borrowing the untranslatable word from another language”. When they do this often enough, the borrowed word “becomes part of their vocabulary”, OED said.

The majority of newly-added words from Singapore and Malaysia are names of dishes, a testament to the nations’ obsessions with food.

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

“All this talk of food might inspire one to get a takeaway, or to tapau,” OED said, referring to another new word which originated from Mandarin and the Cantonese dialect, meaning “to package, or wrap up, food to take away”.

Apart from gigil, the newly-added Philippine words include the national pastime of videoke, the local version of karaoke which includes a scoring system, and salakot, a wide-brimmed, lightweight hat often used by farmers.

Other Philippine additions include what the OED calls “idiosyncratic uses of existing English words”, such as terror, sometimes used to describe a teacher who is strict, harsh, or demanding.

The OED contains more than 600,000 words, making it one of the most comprehensive dictionaries in the English-speaking world.

Its editors consider thousands of new word suggestions each year. These come from a variety of sources, including its editors’ own reading, crowdsourcing appeals, and analysis of language databases.

Words and phrases from South Africa and Ireland were also part of OED’s latest update.

(BBC News)

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UN Rights chief türk to visit Sri Lanka this month

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The United Nations Human Rights High Commissioner Volker Türk will visit
Sri Lanka this month or early July, a Foreign Ministry source confirmed. No dates have been finalised for the visit, though the government has agreed to the visit by Mr. Turk.

It’ll be the first time in nine years that a UN Human Rights Commissioner will be visiting Sri Lanka, the last being Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein in February 2016 during Maithripala Sirisena’s presidencyMr. Turk, an Austrian national who took up his duties in October 2022, will visit at a time the government grapples with how it will address human rights concerns raised by the international

community.

In his report to the UN body in August last year, just ahead of
Sri Lanka’s presidential and parliamentary elections, Mr. Turk said the newly elected government should recommit to addressing the root causes of conflict and undertake fundamental constitutional and institutional reforms to address the accountability gap and work towards reconciliation.

These include the immediate moratorium on the Prevention of Terrorism Act and assurances that any replacement legislation is consistent with international human rights law, repeals or amends existing laws or proposed laws that unduly restrict the rights to freedom of opinion and expression, association, and peaceful assembly, including the Online Safety Act and the ICCPR Act.

Mr. Turk’s predecessor Michelle Bachelet requested a visit to
Sri Lanka, but the matter was put under consideration, and the visit did not materialise.

The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) set up the Sri Lanka accountability project, an external evidence-gathering mechanism within the OHCHR, during Ms Bachelet’s period in office, a move strongly opposed by the government.

The OHCHR says that as of July 5, 2024, the repository established within the framework of the OHCHR project comprises 96,215 items and contains information from more than 470 different sources (more than 220 witnesses and 250 organisations), including international and multilateral organisations.

Foreign Minister Vijitha Herath, who addressed the high-level segment of the UNHRC in March this year, rejected the OHCHR Sri Lanka project and outlined government plans for a credible and sound domestic process to address accountability issues in the country.

“We will ensure that the domestic mechanisms and processes established to address challenges emanating from the conflict will continue their work in an independent and credible manner within the constitutional framework,” the minister told the UNHRC.

Despite a visit by the Human Rights Commissioner, the government will remain opposed to any international legal options to advance accountability in Sri Lanka and maintain that there are adequate domestic mechanisms to address accountability issues.

(sundaytimes.lk)

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Trade unionist Ranjan Jayalal takes helm as Kaduwela Mayor

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Prominent trade union leader Ranjan Jayalal has officially been appointed as the new Mayor of the Kaduwela Municipal Council.

Jayalal, a key member of the Ceylon Electricity Board Employees’ Union and a strong advocate for labor rights, was nominated by the National People’s Power (NPP) following their recent victory at the local government elections.

His appointment was formally confirmed through the government gazette issued by the Election Commission on May 31.

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Sri Lanka must take practical steps to join BRICS – Russian Ambassador

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If Sri Lanka is interested in joining the BRICS alliance, the country must take practical steps, says the Russian Ambassador to Sri Lanka, Levan S. Jagaryan.

Speaking during an event at the Bandaranaike International Centre for International Studies in Colombo, Ambassador Levan S. Jagaryan said Russia and China have been offering support to Sri Lanka, but he has not seen adequate interests from the Sri Lankan side.

Responding to a question raised by a journalist about Sri Lanka joining BRICS, the Russian Ambassador to Sri Lanka said, he has been questioned about the matter on several occasions.

Ambassador Levan S. Jagaryan said, “Last October, on the 1st, I met with President Anura Kumar Dissanayake and brought with me an invitation letter from the President of Russia, inviting Sri Lanka to participate in the BRICS summit. I spoke with a language interpreter, but I don’t know if the translation was accurate. The President told me that due to the upcoming general elections, he wouldn’t be able to visit Russia. If Sri Lanka is to join BRICS, it’s not just a matter of Russia; all the member countries need to agree, and there are several steps to take before that happens.”

Russian Ambassador to Sri Lanka Jagaryan stated that he has not seen much interest at the moment and therefore requested Sri Lanka to take some practical steps, if it is serious about joining BRICS.

(adaderana.lk)
(This story, originally published by adaderana.lk has not been edited by SLM staff)

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