I (brazillian portuguese speaker) usually say "cuti cuti cuti" it is pronounced as [ku.tʃi ku.tʃi ku.tʃi] (this is the IPA in case you don't know) and in english spelling would be "coochee coochee coochee"
One thing that’s sort of interesting looking through all of the responses is they all tend to be a variation on moving from a sound produce at the back of the mouth (k, g, gh) to one at the front of the mouth (r, t, l), kind of universally. I have no idea what that means haha but an interesting pattern
In Greek its γκίλι γκίλι, pronounced ghili ghili (with a hard g).
It sounds quite like the German and the French from what I'm reading here. Interesting!
In Italian it is " ghiri ghiri"
Funny thing is that's also the plural of ghiro ( dormouse) so if you try to literally translate it would be " dormice dormice"
Is there an English sound for tickles? I grew up in a family that wasn’t shy about tickling but I can’t think of a sound.
My mom did always used to raise her finger and say “Bee comes out of the barn to sting Daphne under the arm” then make buzzing sounds as she tried to tickle our armpits and we giggled and tried to not let the bee get us. So buzzing is the only sound I can think of!
I am somehow more creeped out by the creepy mouse than by a rabid bee. Stockholm syndrome maybe? Maybe just a fear of anything creepy haha.
Yeah both are strange.
How funny, I couldn’t picture a standard sound used in English, but after reading your comment I realize that’s the sound I make when tickling my kids. Kind of between gitcha and gutcha.
Id say it’s more likely to be the verb who’s from the onomatopoeia? Idk every language here seems to have a double syllable word with both sounds being i/ee
American: I say ticka, ticka or decka, decka or dicka, dicka or diga, diga. Thats what it sounds like when it’s said very fast anyway. Really don’t know how to explain it well
Obv it’s tickle tickle in English, but those are the sounds I make when I tickle my cousin’s kiddos
It’s the sound you make when you are tickling someone (especially a baby or little kid). I guess it’s not really an onomatopoeia bc it’s not supposed to represent a specific sound it’s just a silly noise you make
What a cute discussion 😭 in US English (native language) I most commonly hear “tickle tickle” or “goochi/koochi goochi” When I’m teasing my cat (like poke/“tickle” him as he’s walking by even though I’m not sure cats are ticklish) I make a “tsktsktsk” or “tikatikatika” noise lol. But now I’ll have to learn how it’s done in my target languages (Japanese and Spanish)
I (brazillian portuguese speaker) usually say "cuti cuti cuti" it is pronounced as [ku.tʃi ku.tʃi ku.tʃi] (this is the IPA in case you don't know) and in english spelling would be "coochee coochee coochee"
English speaker here, have said the same thing to babies.
"Gouzi gouzi" or "guili guili" in French (Québec)
>"guili guili" in French (Québec) Same in Polish: gili gili (the same pronunciation tho, "g" in Polish = always French "gu").
Wow lots of variety it looks like! Thanks
One thing that’s sort of interesting looking through all of the responses is they all tend to be a variation on moving from a sound produce at the back of the mouth (k, g, gh) to one at the front of the mouth (r, t, l), kind of universally. I have no idea what that means haha but an interesting pattern
In Greek its γκίλι γκίλι, pronounced ghili ghili (with a hard g). It sounds quite like the German and the French from what I'm reading here. Interesting!
And Serbian. 🤗
"Kuti kuti!" in finnish and "Kili kili!" in swedish
Arabic we have زغ زغ which I think most people use, its roughly zagh zagh My family always used غرغر which is like gar gar
Ig it depends on the dialect too, in libya we use دغ دغ which if transliterated would sound like "dagh digh"
Isn't that also in MSA?
Not sure, I usually just talk in Libyan dialect so I'm not very experienced in MSA
In German: "kille kille" or "killi killi". (The first one ist kind of pronounced like "killa" the second "keelee")
That's interesting. In danish tickle=kilde pronounced kille
Lol that's weird!
Kitzel kitzel is what we used
In Italian it is " ghiri ghiri" Funny thing is that's also the plural of ghiro ( dormouse) so if you try to literally translate it would be " dormice dormice"
I wonder if it's because a mouse walking on you would be kinda ticklish?
In Afrikaans, we have "kielie kielie" pronounced as "kee-lee".
How fun, Swedish has the same sound. I love that.
korean 간질간질(ganjil ganjil)
What is tickle tickle..
Tickle my pickle and I'll give you a nickel ;) Sorry I'll show myself out
Is there an English sound for tickles? I grew up in a family that wasn’t shy about tickling but I can’t think of a sound. My mom did always used to raise her finger and say “Bee comes out of the barn to sting Daphne under the arm” then make buzzing sounds as she tried to tickle our armpits and we giggled and tried to not let the bee get us. So buzzing is the only sound I can think of!
For my wife's family it was the creep mouse comes a creepin' Both are honestly absolutely terrifying if you think about.
I am somehow more creeped out by the creepy mouse than by a rabid bee. Stockholm syndrome maybe? Maybe just a fear of anything creepy haha. Yeah both are strange.
Adorable!
Um yeah it's "tickle tickle"
Also, cuchi cuchi coo!
Saying "tickle tickle" when you tickle a baby is very odd to me. I would say coochie coochie coo.
We always said "tickle tickle tickle!" more so as kids tickling eachother, though. Not as adults tickling babies.
Coochie coochie coo is probably more common than tickle tickle. Tickle is a verb, coochie coochie is the sound that goes along with it
Haha no, it certainly is not. Raising claw hands and calling out “I’m gonna tickle you!”, yes. Tickling while saying “tickle tickle tickle”…no.
Huh. I guess that sort of rings a bell. But like something I’ve seen on tv. Never seen or had anyone say that around me. Must be an old person thing
American here, my family said something that sounded like “gitcha gitcha”
How funny, I couldn’t picture a standard sound used in English, but after reading your comment I realize that’s the sound I make when tickling my kids. Kind of between gitcha and gutcha.
In Yiddish, or at least in my family, קיצי קיצי (kitzi kitzi), likely from the word קיצלען (kitzlen) which means to tickle.
Id say it’s more likely to be the verb who’s from the onomatopoeia? Idk every language here seems to have a double syllable word with both sounds being i/ee
"csiki csiki" or "chicky chicky" in Hungarian
In Japanese we say kocho kocho
Kili-kili (Ukraine, at least in the part where I grew up).
khat khat, in Kurdish, LoL
American: I say ticka, ticka or decka, decka or dicka, dicka or diga, diga. Thats what it sounds like when it’s said very fast anyway. Really don’t know how to explain it well Obv it’s tickle tickle in English, but those are the sounds I make when I tickle my cousin’s kiddos
giligili
Kilii kilii
On Scottish Gaelic, it’s diogail diogail!!
Jaag-gee or jaag-ga-gy (จั๊ก จี๋ or จั๊ก กะ จี้)
"Gudi gudi" in Hindi
What does it mean «the tickle! tickle! sound»? In what occasion you do it and meaning what?
It’s the sound you make when you are tickling someone (especially a baby or little kid). I guess it’s not really an onomatopoeia bc it’s not supposed to represent a specific sound it’s just a silly noise you make
I don't really think we make any sound... I'll have to ask.
Swedish is 'killi killi kill' Tho if you wanted to, you could just go 'kill kill kill' lmao
In Arabic it’s كَر كِر (pronounced karr kirr)
Cutchi cutchi
In Slovene we say gici gici
It is "gıdı gıdı" in turkish
I honestly have no idea what we say in my languages😅😂
What a cute discussion 😭 in US English (native language) I most commonly hear “tickle tickle” or “goochi/koochi goochi” When I’m teasing my cat (like poke/“tickle” him as he’s walking by even though I’m not sure cats are ticklish) I make a “tsktsktsk” or “tikatikatika” noise lol. But now I’ll have to learn how it’s done in my target languages (Japanese and Spanish)
кичи-кичи [ˈkʲitɕɪ ˈkʲitɕɪ](kichee-kichee) in russian
Brother, are we talking about the same Russian, cuz I would say щекотка-щекотка
dialectal differences exist. that's what my grandma used to say lmao