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Delusional,” as a colloquial concept, got a makeover last year. Like they are wont to do with crop tops, Gen Z–ers slashed it into a shorter, cheekier version of itself: being “delulu,” unlike its predecessor, isn’t always a bad thing, several publications eagerly explained. It can simply mean believing in yourself, despite all evidence to the contrary. If you hold fast and want something hard enough, the delulu doctrine states, it might just happen for you.

While “delulu” is a delighligh neologism, if you’ll indulge a brief solluluquy from me, as a life philosophy I’ve often found it wanting. Related ideas include manifesting and faking it till you make it. This is at odds with my view that the way through is usually to be realistic and do the work. (I’m not saying I always do the work, but I believe in the idea of doing it.) Take the TikTok creator who told HuffPost a few months ago that being delulu was the secret to building up his following of hundreds of thousands: Even though his early videos got barely any views, he believed in himself and eventually the numbers followed. To me, that doesn’t sound like being delusional at all—it sounds like working hard and sticking with it. Though I admit that’s a lot less fun to say.