I grew up speaking both English and Filipino. Personally, Filipino words have a deeper intensity when it comes to showing emotion. I don’t know why but cursing in Filipino will always release more anger in me as compared to cursing in plain English. We Filipinos seem to have a word for anything. We’re all pretty creative and it’s hilarious how we can describe so many emotions with just one tagalog word. And usually, these kinds of words have no English equivalent, so when you use it, you have to switch from English and Tagalog just to prove your point. Here are a couple of Filipino words that have no English equivalent:
| The feeling of incredible joy when you see your crush around. Plus points if he interacted with you (could be a wave, or a nod, or acknowledgement of existence), which would then result to an intense wave of kilig. A friendly warning for your friends: please tell them to step back because you are gleaming with joy and your hands cannot be tamed as it swats invisible flies while you screech in pure awe and love. |  |
 | You’re not exactly angry, but you’re not okay with what happened as well. It’s like you’re almost about to become angry, but you’re not willing to be committed to the feeling of it. |
| You saw a cute baby with big eyes and really chubby cheeks and legs and you instantly think, oh my God I want to eat that baby!!! No, you’re not crazy. Basically, you just have an urge to hurt something you find really cute. (This isn’t limited to eating said cute thing. You could have the urge to bite, strangle, stab, pinch, or even throw at a wall whatever/whoever you find so freaking cute that pain must be inflicted.) Again, you’re not crazy. As long as you don’t actually eat that little baby (or that cute boy in class, please don’t.) |  |
 | You don’t know, you don’t care, you don’t care enough to bother to know. |
| When you’ve taken in too much of something, nauumay ka na. It’s usually when you’ve eaten something so much that you’re starting to get sick of it. It could also be used for when you’ve slept over at your friend’s house for two consecutive nights and you’re already sick of each other’s presence. But, nevertheless, you two still love each other. |  |
 | You're easily angered, offended, and hotheaded. No matter how small the joke is, if it hit a nerve, the suspect is dead. The possible following actions could be: the silent treatment or actual physical violence. |
| It could mean annoying, but it could also mean playful. It could mean you’re pestering someone to do something or it could mean something or someone being silly. When someone’s pushed their limit as being makulit, then you get pikon. Words and Illustrations by Daniela Regis |  |
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