You know I love any excuse to talk about language — spelling, pronunciation, idioms. If it’s quirky and has a good backstory, I’m in. So you can imagine my delight when I stumbled across a new-to-me term a few weeks ago.
Hurkle durkle (verb): To linger under the covers of a warm bed long after it’s time to get up.
Delightful, no?
It’s cozy, lazy, and a little rebellious. It’s also apparently of Scottish origin. (Which happens to be my lineage on both sides.)
Hygge — the Danish concept of coziness and contentment — has become a household word…but I’d never encountered hurkle durkle before. I think the two make an excellent pair. If hygge is about warmth and comfort, hurkle durkle is about giving yourself full permission to stay horizontal and let the world wait.
Hurkle durkling (do people say this?) feels like a small act of joy. Or defiance. Or both.
What else is out there?
Your turn.
- What’s your favourite obscure word or idiom — the weirder, the better!
- Are you a proud hurkle durkler, or are you up with the birds?
- What’s your ideal lazy morning setup? (Books? Tea? Breakfast in bed?)
Header photo by Taisiia Stupak on Unsplash
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K @ TS
That’s great. The Scottish have some fun words. I was reading about hiking in Scotland and came across this one: stravaig. It means to wander aimlessly or casually. It’s not really my style but I like the sound of the word! I’m more of a get to your destination kind of girl.
mbmom11
I don’t know if it’s obscure, but perambulate is fun to say. Concatenation too.
I rise with the birds. But I’m curled up on the couch in a soft blanket right now ( waiting for time to get up and starting my morning routine) so maybe a modicum of hurkling here? I do like waking up just a little bit before I have to, so I can have quiet time to myself – books and word games. I used to stay up late to do this, but my daily rhythm has shifted.
Hana
Do you listen to the Inside out Money podcast? They spent a whole episode talking about hurkle durkling recently! I love to hurkle durkle, and I love that word. A funny word we use a lot is “Schmuddlefink” my grandparents are German and I grew up hearing this word and now use it often in my own household! It means, roughly, “little naughty grub ball”, which is a perfect word to describe kids in my opinion!