Glurge is a neologism describing a certain kind of melodramatic, saccharine story. The defining characteristic of glurge is that, while its purpose is to make the reader happy, the feel-good aspect is so overdone that it is more likely to nauseate rather than to inspire. It often has a religious theme and is most commonly circulated via e-mail in the form of a chain letter. The term was coined in 1998 by regular Urban Legends Reference Pages forum contributor Pat Chapin as an onomatopoeia to communicate the feeling evoked by reading these missives. According to the Urban Legends Reference Pages, glurge is "the sending of inspirational (often supposedly 'true') tales that conceal much darker meanings than the uplifting moral lessons they purport to offer, and that undermine their messages by fabricating and distorting historical fact in the guise of offering a 'true story.'"
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Glurge is a neologism describing a certain kind of melodramatic, saccharine story. The defining characteristic of glurge is that, while its purpose is to make the reader happy, the feel-good aspect is so overdone that it is more likely to nauseate rather than to inspire. It often has a religious theme and is most commonly circulated via e-mail in the form of a chain letter. The term was coined in 1998 by regular Urban Legends Reference Pages forum contributor Pat Chapin as an onomatopoeia to communicate the feeling evoked by reading these missives. According to the Urban Legends Reference Pages, glurge is "the sending of inspirational (often supposedly 'true') tales that conceal much darker meanings than the uplifting moral lessons they purport to offer, and that undermine their messages by fabricating and distorting historical fact in the guise of offering a 'true story.'"