When I read a post about "diabetic" light novels, I was confused. Is this a meme or just wrong word usage?

Given the context, I assume it means something that’s overly sweet and sappy, because it can “give you diabetes” like eating too much sugar does

As a native, I don't really see the connection either. It could be that he wanted to coin a new term, or perhaps it's a play on "very sweet" (?) as in "that was a very sweet story"/"that story had very kind overtones". But that feels like a reach. I wouldn't sweat something like this

They were saying it as in "this is so sugary and sweet it'll give you diabetes"

Some people call things “diabetic” because they find it sweet. “Sweet” can refer to something that makes you feel nice, warm, sentimental— and also sugary food. It’s common, if kind of inaccurate, to say that diabetics are diabetic because of their sugar intake. So extremely sweet media full of romance, sentiment and fluff is called diabetic as an exaggeration. It sounds like that person felt those feelings, but then felt sentimental and lonely because they want that for themself too and wonder how to get it, and that’s why they said they “question themself.” It’s hardly related to the use of this word here and says more about them.

Diabetes is a disease with multiple causes--one of them being excessive sugar intake. A "diabetic novel" is extremely "sweet"--that is, it contains excessive sentimentality and/or excessive optimism. If metaphorical sugar could give you medical problems (it can't), that book would give you diabetes.

I have never heard this definition ever used before, and [wiktionary](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/diabetic) (which is my go-to for such things) has no matching entry. Maybe there's a similar word that the original poster meant, but I can't think of what it might be. Given that subreddit is focused on Japanese media, it might be a calque from that language. "Guilty pleasure" is the only way I can think to describe what that poster seems to mean. ["Saccharine"](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/saccharine) is kind of close.

My interpretation would've been it means super sweet & sappy - probably specific to American slang. The cost of diabetes medication is inaccessibly high for a lot of people, especially without insurance. Sweets, drinks, & junk food that contribute to diabetes are EASILY accessible. These things combined means we have an epidemic of diabetes, & its become a thing of slang and memes in modern culture (diabeetus guy, for example) So with that in mind, they're asking for something super sweet, easily accessible, & they don't really care if there's much substance. They want it to be so sweet it makes you physically ill.

i'm thinking it's referring to teen romance novels. i tend to describe their stories as "saccharine sweet" which one could argue can be diabetic. they're the romcoms of books, usually half as thick as a normal novel, published by the dozens, and always has a happy ending.

Searching "diabetic" in that subreddit, it looks like they use it to mean "extremely sweet, with little substance" (the connection to diabetes is the idiom "so sweet it'll give you diabetes", from the belief that eating lots of sugary foods, like candy, causes diabetes). It seems to most often be applied to cute, wholesome romance stories that don't have complex plots. The description in the post you linked doesn't make much sense to me though; it seems like the other users knew what OP meant but OP explained the idea very poorly.

Never heard the word used to device literature. No idea what they meant.

It's hilarious how this question apparently makes perfect sense to the people in the sub where it was posted.

I’m a type 1 diabetic and I have NO IDEA what this is. Even looking through some of the comments confuses me. The only thing I can assume, based on the comments, is that the novel is so super sweet that it gives you diabetes. That’s a semi-common joke about people being really sweet, or a movie being so super squee-sweet that you’re almost embarrassed about how you respond to it.

It's a reference to the "sweetness". Other terms, that might be better understood are saccharine, cloying, syrupy, or treacly. (These can also all be used for food that is too sweet.) These might also be less understood, depending on the audience. But they will be easier to look up in a dictionary. Maudlin, mawkish, mushy, or soppy will mean overly sweet but in a specifically sentimental or tearful way. A slang term for memes of this sort is "glurge". (This is probably not broadly known, but a quick search will find the definition.) You might also hear that films of this sort are made by the Hallmark Channel, and similar films may be described as "hallmark(y)".

I think you need some specialized knowledge to understand this. I read the original post and have no idea what’s going on. I don’t know what a Light Novel is.

I initially thought it meant what's the most saccharine novel you've ever read (as in, "would give you diabetes" if it were food, the same way people joke about eating something really sweet will give you instant diabetes). The comments don't seem to bear that out though

i think in this context it mean to enjoy something you really shouldnt. sorta like the phrase "guilty pleasure"

I think it's because these people don't know the word "saccharine", which is used to describe overly-sweet things.

I am absolutely baffled by that usage of the word “diabetic.” American native speaker and ELA teacher here. Could it possibly be a translation of an idiom in another language, or a dialect of English? I ask because the responses seem to understand what the OP is asking for. I agree with PP that my first guess would have been that they meant either saccharine, or that they were describing the books as being like junk food for their brain. Neither of those actually make sense as a usage for the word “diabetic” in English - I’ve heard “so sweet it’s diabetes-inducing” before to describe something saccharine, but that doesn’t mean you can use “diabetic” as a synonym for “saccharine.” But I’m leaning toward it being an idiom in some other language or dialect. Or, OP might be an ESL speaker themselves, and they’re just misusing the idiom “diabetes-inducing.”

Dialectic. It’s an argument method that involves looking at both sides.

Diagetic, maybe? Or, sometimes things are described as 'diabetic' to mean 'super sweet.' Since that post talks about self-indulgent, guilty-pleasure novels, I would assume it's asking 'what is the sweetest/fluffiest Light Novel you've read.' In which case it's just explained/used poorly.

Could the commenter mean Didactic? It means something that is designed to teach or instruct, to make you question your own actions.

I have ran across "that [non-food thing] was so sweet it gave me diabetes" remarks before. As others have said, there is a common perception (perhaps not correct) that eating too many sweets can give you diabetes. So that is my first pass at what the other person is referencing. They then talk about stories that aren't complex but they still enjoy. One could also draw a parallel to "junk food," food that has no nutritional value but is good. Finally they mention: "essentially, your most guilty pleasure series." Food that is bad for you is also sometimes called a "guilty pleasure." I think the other person is making several references to light novels in terms of food. They ask for light novels that are sweet, simple, and but are enjoyable anyway.

I think it's just something the OP has made up. Even Urban Dictionary can't help.

might be a term specific to that community, bc I’ve never heard it used that way before