The Kinder Surprise

Cover image for the The Kinder Surprise word card on the Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows

The Kinder Surprise

n.
the point in your early adolescence when you realize that your parents are muddling through their lives the same as you; that many respectable adults are no less lost than you and your friends, no less petty and obsessive and insecure, which makes you wonder if there are no real adults, because such a thing never actually existed, except in bedtime stories.

German Kinder, children. Refers to Kinder Surprise, a foil-wrapped chocolate egg that contains a small toy that’s already broken into pieces. Pronounced “thuh kin-der ser-prahyz.”

Hem-Jawed

an abstract image of someone touching their face

Hobsmacked

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

Clockwise

a close-up of flower along with polaroid pictures

Lilo

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

Trumspringa

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

Waldosia

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