Chika chika is a Tagalog word that translates to something along the lines of “chit-chat,” while its singular iteration, chika, means “gossip.” While the term is local to Filipinx culture, the concept isn’t. Chika in Tagalog is chisme in Spanish. It’s fofoca in Portugeuse. It’s muda hanashi in Japanese. Gossip is so central to some of these cultures that they have multiple names for it. In Tagalog, chika is more commonly referred to as tsismis. In Spanish, chisme can also be called bonchinche or cotilleo depending on location. These parallels are important to note because it speaks to the way in which, regardless of language or ethnicity, oppressed peoples in the U.S. use gossip as a liberatory practice, one that produces personal agency.
