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.

Mithenness

a person standing on the side of a road

Emorries

a magnifying glass over photos and books

Alpha Exposure

a close-up of a baby with diffusion filter

Echthesia

blurry image of two clocks

Nowlings

a pile of black and white puzzle pieces

Enterhood

adults with stern expressions holding a child

Anticious

a group of men in hats looking at elevated signage

Affogatia

miscellaneous items on a table

Kerisl

piles of old books scattered in an abandoned room

Appriesse

a blurry image of a person looking at mounted images

Midsummer

a person standing in a garden holding a clock

Etterath

a graduation cap and gown on a chair

Enterhood

adults with stern expressions holding a child

Mahpiohanzia

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

O’Erpine

a person looking at a grave

Midding

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

Viadne

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

Monachopsis

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

Ellipsism

a hand clawing at a wall

Epistrix

several doors standing in a dark room

Chrysalism

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