My UBD colleague, Salbrina Sharbawi, tells me that the Brunei Malay word gigiran means 'to blurt out random words when startled'. (The Standard Malay equivalent might be melatah; but it is maybe not quite the same, as Adrian Clynes tells me that melatah usually refers to blurting out crudities.)
For gigiran, Salbrina says that the words she blurts out usually involve chickens, such as ayam melatup 'exploding chicken'.
Now, why doesn't English have a word like gigiran? It seems such a splendid word. Mind you, I can't imagine myself saying something like 'exploding chicken' when I am startled, so maybe we don't actually need a word like gigiran in English.
Squids in his (her, your) ink
12 hours ago

English = Gibberish?
ReplyDeleteGibberish isn't quite the same, because it just refers to nonsensical words without the element of blurting things out when you are startled.
ReplyDeleteI think this gigiran thing only affects women & effeminate men.
ReplyDelete