Blorbo
what it means
Purposefully absurd, to defuse the earnestness of caring a lot about a fictional person. "Blorbo from my shows" is the standard construction.
A deliberately silly word for a character you're intensely attached to.
the origin story
Emerged on Tumblr around 2021 as a nonsense placeholder for "the character I won't stop thinking about".
It spread rapidly because it solved a genuine problem: talking about intense fictional attachment without sounding intense. The silliness of the word does the emotional work, letting people be sincere while appearing not to be.
in the wild
Who are you drawing?
My blorbo. Don't ask me to explain the show.
Blorbo from my shows.
Everyone has one.
how to use it
- Affectionately describing a favourite character
- Fandom conversations
- Deflecting from earnestness
- Professionally
- Where the joke won't land
- In serious media criticism
related terms
receipts
Community feedback
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