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.
Elisabeth
That does NOT sound like Kyria, but what a helpful word. My kids are very good at stravaig. I’m in between. John is also a “let’s get there” type of walker.
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.
Elisabeth
Perambulate is a very satisfying word to say! I’ve never heard (or at least I didn’t recognize it) concatenation. I love learning new things like this. Question is, will I remember the definition??
I do not wake up well. Sigh. I wish I was a “fly out of bed with excessive energy.” In general, I’m just low energy at most times. I can function and have a great time, but I am rarely energetic. It takes all kinds in the world, right?
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!
Elisabeth
I don’t listen to that podcast, but now I’m curious.
Little naughty grub ball! Ha.
This reminds me a bit of the Portuguese form of endearment: batatinha pintada, which translates to “little painted potato” which makes no sense, but it’s a sweet phrase and I sometimes use it to describe my kiddos.
Catrina
I was born just north of Edinburgh and spent my early childhood there – so yes, “hurkle durkle” is part of my vocabulary! I don’t use it often though.
In our family, “blether” (talking rubbish), “crabbit” (grumpy), and good old “tatties” for potatoes are still in regular use. And the more I think about it, the more words come flooding back. You’ve sent me down a path of nostalgia!
Elisabeth
Ohhhh! Someone who actually grew up using this term. How did it take nearly 40 years for me to hear it for the first time. I like hurkle durlking!
I would say blather in the same way you say blether! I’ve never heard this alternate spelling (and maybe it means slightly different things)?
Crabbit inherently SOUNDS very grumpy!
Jenny
WELL. As soon as I saw the title of this post, I thought “I’ve never heard of hurkle durkle, but whatever it is, I’m in!” And then I read the definition. Who doesn’t like a good hurkle durkle? Unfortunately, I can’t hurkle durkle on weekday mornings- my alarm goes off and I have to get right up. But… I know what I’m doing on Sunday!!!
Elisabeth
Yay! You can now claim your Sunday mornings as prime time to hurkle durkle.
Nicole MacPherson
Hurkle durkle! I have never heard of that and I have a lot of Scottish blood. I am not a hurkle durkle person though, I am generally up and at it.
I love how the Australians nickname everything – from uni to mozzies to sunnies.
Elisabeth
I wish I was up and at it. *Sigh* Is it genetic? Like, are your parents morning people? Is Rob a morning guy? Do you wake him up by rising so early. I AM CURIOUS!
I try so hard, but after a few days (or at most weeks) of early mornings and I feel like death.
Katy @PracticalWalk
Never heard that one, but it’s a good one!