There's A Word For That: Kilig

"There's A Word For That" is a short podcast series uncovering beautiful words from around the world — words that capture feelings we've all felt but never quite had language for. Each bite-sized episode explores a single word and the emotion it represents, giving you a small moment to pause and recognize something true about your own experience. It's a little celebration of how language helps us make sense of what it means to be human.

Transcript

Hello and welcome to There's a Word for That, Where in just a few minutes each episode we'll uncover a word from somewhere in the world for a feeling you've likely had many times but never knew had a name. So without further ado, Let's get right into it. Think of the moment in a film when two characters finally, Almost, Kiss. Your stomach flips. You curl your toes. You might grab the nearest cushion and squeal. Well in the Philippines, There's a word for that. Key Lake k-i-l-i-g, That's ki-lig It's a Tagalog word for the giddy, Fluttery thrill of romance. Is often described as butterflies in the stomach. But it's more physical and more playful than that. People talk about getting the shivers, Goosebumps, And the urge to squirm as a form of release. Kiliig can come from your own romantic moment, Like a text from your crush. But it also works second hand. You can feel it watching a love story unfold on screen. Or watching your friends fall for each other. What's interesting is that English doesn't really have a dedicated word for either version of this feeling. We just reach for generic words like happy or sweet. Is such a specific, Widely recognized feeling in the Philippines. That English has essentially borrowed it. In 2016, Key League was added to the Oxford English Dictionary, One of a small number of Tagalog words to earn an official place in English, Because there simply wasn't an existing word that covered the same ground. So the next time a film gets you right in the chest, Or your friend shows you a text from someone they like, And you feel it almost as much as they do, You'll know exactly what's happening. And now you finally have a word for it, Kilik. Thank you so much for listening, I hope you've enjoyed this episode, And until next time, Take care.