Backmasking

a woman's face with a double exposure

Backmasking

n.
the instinctive tendency to see someone as you knew them in their youth—a burned-in image of grass-stained knees, graffitied backpacks, or handfuls of birthday cake, superimposed on an adult with a mortgage, or children of their own.

In audio recording, backmasking is a technique wherein a sound is deliberately recorded backward, so it’s only intelligible when played in reverse.

Keta

a hand reaching through paper with a flower drawing

Fellchaser

a blurred shadow of a person in a dark room

Alpha Exposure

a close-up of a baby with diffusion filter

Lisolia

a bookcase containing objects

Daguerreologue

Daguer-reologue

a man sitting in blurred silhouette at a desk

Affogatia

miscellaneous items on a table

Enterhood

adults with stern expressions holding a child

Cullaways

a lone sand castle on a beach at low tide

Keyframe

a large rock in the water with emanating ripples

Clockwise

a close-up of flower along with polaroid pictures

Pithered

stacks of papers and folders piled high on a table

Aftersome

rows of opaque and clear marbles

Amuse-Douche

Cover image for the Amuse-Douche word card on the Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows

Thwit

close-up of a person with forehead wrinkled and holding their head

Irrition

a close up of a dandelion

Viadne

Cover image for the Viadne word card on the Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows

Mal De Coucou

a blurry image of several men

Sitheless

Cover image for the Sitheless word card on the Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows

Spinning Playback Head

silhouette of a person looking out a window

Liberosis

Cover image for the Liberosis word card on the Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows

Mottleheaded

Cover image for the Mottleheaded word card on the Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows