“Hurkle-Durkle” Is the Scottish Morning Habit You Need to Try Tomorrow

If you’re looking for a new favorite word, here’s one to try on for size: hurkle-durkle. A sound so silly I can’t help but smile even as I type it, and, amazingly, the concept is just as wonderful. To hurkle-durkle is to linger awake in bed, wrapped in your best blanket well after you “should” have gotten up. Also known as the best part of any weekend morning.

It’s a Scottish term dating back to the 1800s (hurkle meaning “to draw the body together”), but the reason you’re probably just hearing it for the first time is because the fun-to-say-phenomenon recently went viral. TikTok user Kira Kosarin posted a video that’s amassed over 350,000 likes, saying, “Just thought you guys should know that the Scottish have a word for laying around in bed after it’s time to get up, and it’s called hurkle-durkling. I do be hurkling, and I do be durkling and once I’ve hurkled my last durkle in a given morning I will get up, but I’m a big fan of a hurkle-durkle.”

If this practice sounds strangely familiar, you’re in good company. The TikTok has since spawned many videos of people using the audio to share their cozy bedscapes, record their leisurely morning routine of reading a book in bed, or show themselves getting out of bed just to get back in (absolute bliss). “POV you live on a Scottish island have been snowed in and hurkle durkling all week,” reads the caption of one TikTok user I’m extremely jealous of.

While it may sound a lot like bed rotting, another recent TikTok trend, the hurkle-durkle typically has an end in sight. It’s an indulgent morning of lounging around in bed but not necessarily a full day or weekend. Should you find your hurkle is durkling a little too long, or getting in the way of work, wellness, or other important things, it could be a sign you’re feeling depressed, and you may want to try to get up and do something.

“Depression needs activity to help it heal, like getting outside in nature.” Mary Cahilly, a mental health and wellness therapist told Apartment Therapy. “Be mindful of how that time in bed is spent — if it’s spent on a screen (phone, laptop, TV, etc.), you are numbing your nervous system instead of rejuvenating it.” 

A concept as fun as hurkle-durkle should feel good, so if you’re spending some extra time in bed, it’s not a bad idea to set aside your phone or laptop and pick up the book you’re reading, turn to your partner for some pillow talk, or just rest your eyes and think about whatever you want. 

While I’m growing wary of the never-ending churn of micro-trends coming out of TikTok (“trendbait,” as Vox writer Rebecca Jennings puts it), I am quite pleased to have been introduced to hurkle-durkle. Knowing that my favorite morning habit is a centuries-old Scottish tradition is just the sweet excuse I needed to mix up a sleepy girl mocktail and rest a little easier. So with that, I say, happy hurkle-durkle to all, and to all a good night! 

If you or someone you know is dealing with depression and needs help, visit one of the following websites or call one of their helplines:

• Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance: 800-826-3632
• National Alliance on Mental Illness: 800-950-6264
• Hopeline: 800-442-4673