Lap Year

several people racing bicycles uphill in a forest

Lap Year

n.
the age at which you become older than your parents were when you were born, which signals that your stage of the race has already begun, having spent years coasting in their slipstream as they tackled the mountain stages of life, leaving you strong, energetic, and deeply mortified by their loud yellow jerseys.

From lap, one full circuit around a course + gap year, a regenerative break between adjacent stages of life. In the Tour de France, the cyclist with the lowest time receives a ceremonial yellow jersey and the right to start the next stage.

Lisolia

a bookcase containing objects

Vulture Shock

Cover image for the Vulture Shock word card on the Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows

Kairosclerosis

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

Nemotia

a city with clouds of smoke

Thrapt

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

Suerza

a tunnel with a light emanating from the end