LINGUISTICS
Is Present-Day English “Delulu”?
Dissecting a Cute New Coinage in English
A recent conversation with a student of mine asking why they lost points on a homework problem went as follows:
Me: “This one was a freebie, the answer was given in the lecture…”
Student (sighing): “Ugh! Sorry, I must be delulu.”
Me: “I’m sorry, you must be what?”
They went on to explain that “delulu” is a short, cutesy way of saying “delusional.”
Immediately, my linguist brain jumped to analyze how we get “delulu” from “delusional.” I figured I’d share the linguistic perspective here along with what I’ve been able to dig up about this neologism’s history.
First, some history.
The K-Pop (Korean Pop Music) origins of “Delulu”
According to Know Your Meme, an online encyclopedia for memes that essentially does lexicographic research on memes and internet language that has gone somewhat viral, “delulu” came into English from the Korean Pop Music (K-Pop) community around 2014, to describe a K-Pop fan who has parasocial delusions that they would eventually develop a meaningful relationship with their K-Pop idol.
