Social media has revolutionized the way that we interact with each other.
Before social media, if you wanted someone to see a picture of you, you had to see them in person, send a physical photograph via the postal service, or make an appearance on TV. The modern way is so much quicker.
Now, all you have to do is take a camera with a digital device, connect it to a computer, and upload it.
Under the right conditions, this process can take less than a minute.
Furthermore, it’s easier than ever to caption your photos, so you can attach whatever message you want when you’re feeling cute.
What Is the Meaning of “Feeling Cute”?
“Feeling cute” is a common caption below photos on a variety of social media platforms. The phrase is meant to indicate that the person who uploaded the photo was spontaneously satisfied with their appearance and wanted to share it on social media.
Often, “feeling cute” is part of a larger phrase — “feeling cute, might delete later.”
The “might delete later” tidbit is meant to fuel likes and comments before the original poster deletes it. However, if the original poster gets enough engagement, then they usually won’t delete the photo.
In short, “feeling cute” and “feeling cute, might delete later” are both common captions that are used to get attention and promote engagement with photos on social media platforms.
Although the phrase is often used unironically, “feeling cute” and several variations were originally used in memes to lampoon self-indulgent selfies on social media platforms, and people may still use the phrase ironically for humor or to make a point.
How and When to Use “Feeling Cute”
This phrase is informal, so it should not be used on professional social media sites or in the office. Furthermore, the majority of people over 50 probably won’t understand it.
People mostly caption online photos with this phrase. However, it can also be spoken in person if you want to act silly.
As an example, Taryn has just bought a new pair of leggings that complement her favorite hoodie. She’s proud of her outfit, so she wants to put it on Instagram.
Because she wants a lot of likes and comments right away, she writes “feeling cute, might delete later” as the caption.
As Ryan, one of Taryn’s close friends, stumbles upon this picture, he gives it a like and leaves a nice comment. However, his engagement doesn’t stop there.
He decides to find the tackiest clothes, throw together an outfit, make a goofy face, and send a direct message of the picture to Taryn.
Finally, he sends a message right after that reads “feeling cute.” Although this picture is so unflattering that the average person would not consider it cute, the subversion of the phrase is meant to be humorous.
When Taryn opens the message, she laughs out loud and sends Ryan a funny emoji in response.
“Feeling cute” or “feeling cute, might delete later” can also be used similarly in memes.
People may add some variation of “feeling cute” to ridiculous or unflattering pictures of animals, controversial celebrities, or other things that wouldn’t traditionally be considered cute.
This can simply be used for humor, or it can be used to make a broader point about someone’s lack of concern for their own actions.
For example, let’s pretend that a controversial mayor just approved of a new two-lane road that would damage a local goose pond.
His detractors may post unflattering pictures of him with a caption like “feeling cute, might scare away some geese later” or something similar.
While the meme may or may not be very funny, its purpose would be to illustrate that the mayor does not care very much about the effects of the new road. This can be modified to praise or criticize any person or idea in a similar way.
Background of “Feeling Cute” and the Evolution of Its Usage
“Feeling cute” evolved from a Twitter post in 2017. The post showed a poorly drawn depiction of Squidward Tentacles from the Spongebob Squarepants television series taking a mirror selfie alongside the ironic caption “might delete soon, but I felt cute in this pic.”
On a sidenote, another funny phrase that can be found in Spongebob Squarepants is “Hinga dinga durgen.”
From that point, several variations of this meme were spread across Reddit and other social media platforms, and the “feeling cute, might delete soon” variant started to show up after a couple of months.
Eventually, memes started to show up with the shortened “feeling cute.” Since the inception of this phrase, it has also been used more seriously when someone posts a selfie and actually does feel cute.
On the other hand, if you are not feeling cute (right now), you might just be feeling some type of way.
Hey fellow Linguaholics! It’s me, Marcel. I am the proud owner of linguaholic.com. Languages have always been my passion and I have studied Linguistics, Computational Linguistics and Sinology at the University of Zurich. It is my utmost pleasure to share with all of you guys what I know about languages and linguistics in general.