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.

Wenbane

a person standing on a ledge looking at a city skyline

Ochisia

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

Antiophobia

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

Merrenness

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

Tirosy

a close-up of a young child's face

Hiddled

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