Susie Dent announces ‘mulligrubs’ is word of the day to reflect national ‘sense of doom’
Rest assured we’re all in agreement
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.The word of the day today (27 September) is “mulligrubs”, which translates to “a sense of doom”.
Susie Dent, who is known for presenting in Countdown’s Dictionary Corner, uses her Twitter account to regularly share a word of the day.
On Tuesday morning, she revealed the word, saying: “Word of the day is ‘mulligrubs’ (16th century): a state of despondency or sense of doom.”
The word is also defined by Merriam-Webster as a “a despondent, sullen, or ill-tempered mood: sulks, blues”. It’s also been characterised as “feelings of melancholy, sullenness, or depression” by Oxford Languages.
Many have joked that “mulligrubs” seems to aptly sum up the national mood in the UK, prompting Dent’s tweet to go viral.
Commenting on Dent’s post, one person wrote: “Haha, I had the exact same thought. ‘Oh that explains everything’.”
Another wrote: “I’ve got a wee case of the mulligrubs this morning, can’t decide if it’s Nasa blasting an asteroid or the economy tanking that’s doing it. Top of the morning to ya I guess.”
Meanwhile, someone else simply wrote: “State of the nation.” A fourth added: “The whole country has the mulligrubs”
“If we don’t all have the mulligrubs now we have not been paying attention,” said another Tweeter.
“Isn’t that just ‘being British’?” read another comment, while someone else wrote “Well it sounds like I’ve been mulligrubs for most of my life!”
The UK is currently in the throes of several crises, including the cost-of-living crisis, an impending energy crisis, and a economic crisis which this week saw the pound drop to its lowest ever value against the dollar.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments