Armenian Love

Text

Romanization of Armenian: Dzhigyart utem

Direct Translation: “I’ll eat your liver.”

Context:

KT: It’s an expression of strong love, usually said to a child. I think it’s kind of similar to the English phrase “I could eat you right up.” 

KT has only heard the phrase said between family members, though he has no idea where it could have originated from.

Analysis:

Cuteness aggression is an odd but well-documented phenomenon. Common examples are loving a pet so much you want to squeeze it even though you would never hurt it. It is interesting that similar phrases have developed in many languages around the world. In Turkish, the translated phrase is the same and used in the same context. In Tagalog, the phrase “gigil” which means something is cute but refers specifically to the action of gritting your teeth because a baby is so cute.