Hurkle Durkle

Submission 496

Part of a series on Internet Slang. [View Related Entries]

About

Hurkle Durkle, sometimes written as Hurkle-Durkle, is a slang term of Scottish origin meaning to laze in bed for a lengthy period after waking up, similar to "snoozing." The term became popularized on TikTok and Reddit, among other sites, in the mid-2020s.

Origin

"Hurkle durkle" is Scottish slang that means to laze in bed after waking up and well into the morning.^[1] The term has its etymology in the Scottish word "hurkle," which means to "hunker" or sit crouched for warmth. The phrase first attracted attention online following a January 23rd, 2015, tweet by X / Twitter user @Susie_Dent,^[2] gaining over 180 retweets and 170 likes in eight years (shown below).

Spread

Numerous posts referencing hurkle durkle appeared on Reddit in the mid-2020s,^[9]^[10] including a post to the /r/adhdwomen^[8] subreddit on August 3rd, 2023, by Redditor Brainisadumpsterfire, who shared an image of the term as a "word of the day." The post received over 600 upvotes in one year (seen below).

The phrase began growing in popularity on TikTok and YouTube in the mid-2020s. On October 5th, 2023, YouTube channel SuperTalk Mississippi^[3] discussed the term on their show, gaining over 14,000 views in 10 months (shown below).

On January 9th, 2024, TikToker kirakosarin^[4] posted a video explaining the term, gaining over 360,000 likes in eight months (shown below).

The TikTok seemed to be the impetus for "hurkle durkle" becoming a mainstream trend. Over the following months, multiple publications wrote about "hurkle durkling," including Apartment Therapy,^[4] The Wall Street Journal^[5] and The New York Times.^[6] This was buoyed by multiple TikToks showcasing "Hurkle Durkle" as a lifestyle. These include a January 17th, 2024, TikTok by user groundedinneutral^[7] that gained over 264,000 likes in eight months (shown below).