Trumspringa

Trumspringa

n.
the longing to wander off your career track in pursuit of a simple life—tending a small farm in a forest clearing, keeping a lighthouse on a secluded atoll, or becoming a shepherd in the mountains—which is just the kind of hypnotic diversion that allows your thoughts to make a break for it and wander back to their cubicles in the city.

German Stadtzentrum, “city center” + Pennsylvania German Rumspringa, “hopping around.” Rumspringa is a putative tradition in which Amish teens dip their toes in modernity for a while before choosing whether to commit to the traditional way of life. Pronounced “truhm-spring-guh.”

Aesthosis

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

Gaudia Civis

a close-up of a gear

Fitching

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

Vaucasy

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

Galagog

a person alone in a snowy desolate landscape

Feresy

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