Punt Kick

Cover image for the Punt Kick word card on the Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows

Punt Kick

n.
a quiet jolt of recognition that it’s time to become a better version of yourself, sensing that all the strategies that brought you this far are no longer working—that it’s not enough anymore to be cute or nice or righteous or tough—as if you’ve now entered a new phase in the game of life, moving forward with a completely different token.

Dutch puntstuk, railway frog, which is the part of a railway switch where two rails intersect. Sometimes you can feel a little kick when your train passes over it, as if the world is trying to signal you’re missing a turn, having traveled too far on the same old track.

Sayfish

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

Future-Tense

a person looking at their reflection

Dystoria

close up of water drops on a window

Epistrix

several doors standing in a dark room

Amentalio

a person in a white dress, facing away

Kuebiko

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