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.

Fata Organa

Cover image for the Fata Organa word card on the Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows

Mauerbauertraurigkeit

Mauerbauer-traurigkeit

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

Elosy

a blurry image of a person in a subway car

Grayshift

a spiral staircase from above

The Mcfly Effect

Cover image for the The Mcfly Effect word card on the Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows

Midsummer

a person standing in a garden holding a clock