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.”

Eftless

a person with hands pressed on a window

On Tenderhooks

Cover image for the On Tenderhooks word card on the Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows

Desanté

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

Exulansis

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

Bareleveling

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

Fawtle

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