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.

Nodrophobia

close-up of a stained shirt

Walloway

water faucet that seems to emanate from the ground

Nowlings

a pile of black and white puzzle pieces

Bareleveling

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

Fitzcarraldo

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

Wellium

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