Is Present-Day English “Delulu”?
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.
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