American TikTokker baffled by Aussie slang term she’s misunderstood for years: ‘I feel so stupid’

“Come to find out, it’s ‘darl’. But it sounds like ‘doll’? They’ve been calling each other ‘darl’, like short for ‘darling’.

“It’s so cute, like I’ve loved it when women would call me this, but the entire time I have thought they’ve been calling me ‘doll’.”

Thanks darl!

Aussies in the comments were quick to confirm the woman’s realization, saying they use the word ‘darl’ all the time.

“Yep I call pretty much say Thanks Darl or Darling, depends on how well my English is Englishing that day,” one commenter said.

“‘Dahl’ or ‘Dahlin’ hope this helps :),” said another.

Which one is it?

However, others said they were just as confused, adding they thought it was ‘doll’ as well.

“Wait. I’m Australian and I thought they were saying doll too 🤷🏼‍♀️” one commenter said.

And, it might be because the answer is somewhere in the middle – with many admitting they go between the two, or use them in different situations.

“Australian here, no one says Darl except the very very occasional old lady. it might actually be doll, way more common,” one commenter said.

“Some say doll some say darl. especially in northern states you’ll hear darl as Dahl – those vowels get flattened and it can be similar to Bostonians saying cah instead of car,” said another.

“I switch between both 😂 darl and doll,” one said.

“We also say doll though 😂” another agreed.

“Doll and Darl are both used, but completely different and spanning many years. It depends when and where they are used and for which generation,” one commenter suggested.

“That’s cute as hell! If it’s a tiny human I’ll call her doll but the big humans get Darl’… mostly in the sense of “oh you’re a darl”. Us Aussies love to shorten everything 😊” another said.