On an E

English needs to add a new word to its dictionaries.

Yes, I know, English surely could use several new words, each designed to convey in one word a concept that currently requires a whole sentence—or a little-known foreign expression—to communicate.  However, I have only one such concept on my mind at present: that wordless, high-pitched noise of delight or exaltation best resembling the sound of the letter E.  One hears it emerge primarily from females who are in a state of excitement.  Por ejemplo…

My best friend whom I’ve not seen in years arrives at my door?  Eeeee!  I just bought the sequel to my favorite book and sit poised to read it?  Eeeee!  I just wrapped my hands around a mug of hot tea and took a sip of vanilla-y-chai bliss?  Eeeee!  I just got off work and get to stay home the rest of the day?  Eeeee!  I see a kitten acting adorably at the animal shelter?  Aww!  I get to keep said kitten?  Eeeee!

For a visual example of this phenomenon, enjoy these panels from a page of Girl Genius (see the full page at girlgeniusonline.com):

Of course, “eeee” already appears in writing—mainly on casual message boards and Facebook posts from what I’ve seen.  When uttered aloud—or when written in a clearly enthusiastic context, such as in the comments under a much-anticipated online announcement—this sound needs no explanation; one can hear the excitement in the speaker’s tone or due to the context.  Unfortunately, the sound is trickier to communicate in prose.  Even in dialog, the sound may require careful word choices or even extra words of clarification lest a reader first assume a character to be shrieking in fright.   (As an example of how not to write an "eeee" of excitement, "Nina opened her mailbox.  'Eeee!' she exclaimed.")

This conundrum is especially felt in narration—when referring to the sound rather than actually having a character utter it.  What does one call this sound?  For example, say one wishes to write something such as “I watched the kitten snuggle the teddy bear and felt like ‘eeee’ing.”  Awk-ward!  Consider also “A long, high-pitched yet silent ‘eeeeeee!’ of joy filled my mind”?  Five words could be eliminated from that bulky sentence if we had a proper word for the sound: “A silent [word] filled my mind.”

If you haven’t guessed the word I have in mind, one might now reasonably ask what this new word should be. 

Humor me as I first rule out existing dictionary words.  “Squeal” may come closest to describing the sound, but the word puts me in mind of a shrill, piggy noise, not necessarily made in delight.  My thesaurus offers several unsatisfactory alternatives, among them cry, moan, and wail (which have such sad connotations), scream (which implies fear or anger), yell or holler (as in “hey, you!”), yelp and squeak (noises too short for an “eeee”), howl (we’re not imitating a wolf!), squawk (nor a chicken), and finally shriek and screech (it’s nothing so discordant).   Certainly, one might refer to the instance when one might make the noise as “geeking out” or “a fangirl/fanboy moment,” but those terms alone don’t necessarily mean the individual made the sound; one can geek out in other ways, as well.

Clearly these won’t do.  Thus, I submit that English dictionaries should accept the word “squee” (with optional extra E’s when uttered).  This onomatopoeia sounds much cuter than “squeal” and expresses the speaker’s sense of delight more accurately than “squeal”’s synonyms.  If that’s not argument enough, it’s already in popular use!  It acts at various times as an exclamation, a noun, and a verb.

• The amusing photo website I Can Has Cheezburger has a “Daily Squee” …um, category?  Subsite?  Page?  Thingy.
• Kaja Folgio from Girl Genius & Agatha H. fame wrote on her latest blog post about the Seattle Steamposium’s voluntary decision to create a Girl Genius cosplay category for their costume contest, after which she wrote,

Excuse me while I squee a bit…

Squeeee!

Okay. I’m good.

• Tvtropes.org has a page defining “squee” as a sound made by fangirls, and the site postulates that it’s a portmandeau of “squeal” and “glee.”  (Reasonable.)  It also includes examples of instances of the sound in games, comics, online, etc. (warning—not all of them appear to be clean).
• Squee! (with the exclamation mark) is the name of a two-woman company designed to assist budding entrepreneurs. 

Plenty more examples may be found on DeviantArt, blogs, and social media sites.  Wikionary even has a definition of it!

            Get with the times, Dictionary.com (and your varied sources, too)!

Interesting Note: I’ve also found in researching this that “Squee” is the name or nickname of several people, real and fictional.