It's time for Scotland to embrace hurkle-durkle as Scots phrase is reawakened in US slang after 150 years of slumber

Both Generation Z, which includes people born between 1997 and 2012, and Generation Alpha, covering all of those born from 2012 onwards, are bringing the archaic Scots term back into everyday use.

The unexpected revival comes down to the ever-expanding vocabulary of the chronically online, which has seen words and phrases such as aura farming, skibidi and rizz popularised.

What does hurkle-durkle mean?

Hurkle-durkle is a 100% real Scottish phrase, meaning to “lie in bed or lounge about when one should be up and about” as defined in the Dictionaries of the Scots Language.

The entry is tucked beneath hurkle, which means to “sit huddled in a crouched position either for warmth or secrecy”, and is noted as being obsolete.

Hurkle-durkle can be traced back to the 19th century and had fallen out of use for around 150 years. So, even if you are Scottish, you would be forgiven for thinking that the phrase is some kind of internet nonsense.

Why is there a hurkle-durkle revival?

Susie Dent, who previously highlighted hurkle-durkle as her word of the day, recently tweeted that she was “very happy” to read about its revival in current US slang.

Compared other popular slang words used online such as mog — which means intentionally outclassing or appearing more attractive than someone else — hurkle-durkle is almost refreshingly innocuous.

But the real reason why it seems to be enjoying a continued popularity on social media is likely because it gives people permission to be a little bit lazy.

Unlike bed-rotting — which is about staying in bed all day, rather than just the early hours — hurkle-durkling allows people to make the most of those mornings when there is little pressure to get up and moving.

Given that hurkle-durkle stems from the Scots word for huddling for warmth, it feels extra appropriate to embrace the practice as the seasons shift and the days grow short.

But then again, with Scotland’s ever-changing weather it’s perhaps no surprise that such a phrase was once more common.

If you’re a hurkle-durkle sceptic, why not see how it feels to linger under the covers for just one day?

Whether that means you stay in bed or transfer yourself to a comfy chair with a cosy blanket, some tea and light reading, perhaps we would all be better off in the winter if we embraced hurkle-durkling into our lives.