tum's dictionary: vol. 1
i made up some words and put them into a zine. here they are :)
*this post is a bit different than my usual format, but i recently created a note on here showing some words i created for a zine. i thought i’d share them on here for those interested - enjoy : )*
two years ago, i made a zine called “tum’s dictionary: vol. 1” — a dictionary full of words i created to describe complex emotions and experiences. while you can view the zine in its entirety here (and purchase a copy here if you’d like), below are a bunch of words i wrote inspired by a bunch of feelings i had, but struggled to define.
TUM’S DICTIONARY: VOL. 1
pernichial (noun)
/pur-nee-chee-ul/
someone who shares the same niche interests* that shapes the way you view the world - like, loving an introspective card game, or referencing a tumblr account that a person made 9 years ago to give words to unique feelings/thoughts/experiences that had yet to be defined.
*this is not in a way that makes you feel as though you’ve never had an original thought, action, or experience - but in a way that serves as a gentle reminder that your people are out there, you just need to find one another. and if you’re lucky enough, you’ll both choose to stay.
origin:
person + niche + special
→ pernichial
example:
they weren’t just my friend; they were my pernichial.
crewait (verb)
/cree-way-t/
the feeling of waiting for a creative burst to come - you cannot predict when, or how, it happens - it just does, and then you make something, and then you sit and wait for it to come again.
origin:
wait + create
→ crewait
example:
she hadn’t made a zine in a year; she was sitting at her desk, aimlessly scrolling on her phone and crewaiting.
frotend (verb)
/frow-tend/
observing someone/s (i.e. the barista who makes your coffee every day, or the girls on the tube with the cool outfits) and knowing you would be good friends with them, but not saying anything because you’re an adult, and for some reason being an adult means you can’t walk up to each other on the playground and ask to play.
origin:
friend + know + potential
→ frotend
example:
every time she went to the coffee shop, she would frotend; wishing she would make more than ‘small talk’ with the barista.
fomenemon (noun)
/fow-men-eh-mawn/
the phenomenon where all of the special people in your life are in the same space without knowing it – your grandma and your ex are both wandering around the same city, your high school friend group and college friend group are at the same music festival, your two best friends are studying at the same campus -- and you are stuck on the other side of the world, scrolling through posts, watching your own personal crossover episode unfold, thinking about how many variables have to line up for two people you deeply adore to be existing in the same space at the same time.
origin:
fomo + phenomenon
→ fomenemon
example:
she was swiping through each of her friend’s stories of the same concert, wondering how such a fomenemons occur.
sondom (noun)
/sawn-dawm/
being in a public space surrounded by strangers (sitting on the train, waiting in line at the post office, etc.) and questioning the chances of you, and them, existing at the same place, at the same time.
origin:
sonder + phenomenon
→ sondom
example:
as she stood on the bus during rush hour, an overwhelming feeling of sondom took her out of the present.
bory (verb)
/bow-ree/
when you are telling someone a story, and halfway through, some part of their silent social cues give you the indication that they aren’t actually listening to your story, and they don’t really, fully care to hear it. but you’re already halfway through, so you wrap it up and tie a sad bow on it, and stay silent for the remainder of the conversation, thinking about how sometimes self awareness comes at a fault. how telling a story would be so much easier without worrying if the other person is or is not interested.
origin:
boring + story
→ bory
example:
in the middle of recounting her night to her friend, she boried, wishing she had never spoken to begin with.
tanxt (noun)
/tank-st/
the combination of melancholically induced anxiety that comes with speaking in a group message and nobody responding to you. how you wish you wouldn’t have said anything at all, pondering why hiding behind a screen makes things more uncomfortable – how if the scenario would have played out in person, at least one person might have felt obligated to acknowledge you.
origin:
anxiety + text
→ tanxt
example:
she told them about the incident, and suddenly felt tanxt when she was met with silence.
distine (verb)
/diss-teen/
when someone does something that interrupts your routine – for example, you are in a coffee shop, mentally working up the courage to use the restroom, and the moment you finally stand up someone else gracefully enters the single-use washroom – and you feel annoyed, but only at yourself, because in their mind they were working up the same exact courage as you without even realising it.
origin:
disrupt + routine
→ distine
example:
she was distined when she went to take a seat at the end of the now-full table.
flerson (noun)
/fleur-sun/
sharing a fleeting moment with a stranger. for example, waiting in line for an appointment, and getting into a conversation where you have just scratched the surfaces of your respective stories, and suddenly you are called for your appointment – and, afterwards, you are unsure if you are supposed to wait for them to finish their appointment and wish them well – or continue about your day with this feeling of a missed connection that would not have been there if the two of you had never spoken.
origin:
person + fleeting
example:
she encountered a fleurson with the man next to her on the tube, and suddenly, they went their separate ways, escaping into the sea of people in the busy city.
memlé (verb)
/mehm-lay/
replaying a specific, real-life scenario in your mind — like a first kiss after a magical date, or a funny moment with friends — in hopes that it will resurface those very emotions, while simultaneously serving as a mental time capsule of memories you never want to forget.
origin:
replay + memory
example:
it was 1:02 AM and she couldn’t sleep; she was too busy memléing.
fleace (verb)
/flees/
being at peace with the idea that everything is fleeting – whether it be a moment or person – and all there is to do is exist in the present moment
origin:
peace + fleet
→ flees
example:
despite only having one night together, the boy and the girl were at fleace, and continued to share laughter and tears into the late hours of the night.
interxist (noun)
/in-tuhr-xzist/
the stage of a long car ride with friend/s where you’ve run out of stories to tell each other — or perhaps you’ve run out of the mental and physical capacity to carry on the conversation — but you no longer feel the need to fill in the gaps of silence with little anecdotes and mumbles, and you coexist, listening to music and looking out the window at the stars, being comforted by the mere existence of one another.
origin:
intermission + exist
example:
on the way home from the desert they interxisted, driving away from the melting sunset and into the sparkling stars.
soulting (verb)
/sole-ting/
when you meet someone for the first time and it feels like you have known each other forever. perhaps your unique circumstances and all of your little life decisions perfectly aligned your paths to cross at that very point, or perhaps it was some unexplainable, metaphysical force that was waiting for the right time to occur.
origin:
meeting + souls
→ soulting
example:
it wasn’t until her first date with him that she realised soultings are possible.
passation (verb)
/pass-ay-shun/
being so deeply enticed in a conversation that the time escapes you. suddenly, an hour has passed, and then two, and then the restaurant is signalling you to exit by turning off the music and turning on the lights and flipping the ‘open’ sign on the door.
origin:
conversation + passion
→ passation
example:
they hadn’t really known each other well, but once they started talking about food and the culinary arts the passation was imminent.
rouple (noun)
/roo-pull/
the people who you only keep in your life because you are used to their yearly, convenient appearances – relatives you see only during the holidays, distant friends who only pop up in the form of ‘happy birthday’ texts, the people whose contact is loosely hanging by a thread, but for some reason, neither of you will let it break apart
origin:
people + routine
→ rouple
example:
when the christmas gathering occurred, she stared at the rouples around her, questioning the point of it all.
frustance (verb)
/frust-inse/
the frustration brought upon by sheer distance – knowing that your situation could be resolved by a plane ticket or a 5 hour car drive – but, due to external circumstances, you must remain where you are, thinking about how the trajectory of your life could completely change had you booked a ticket
origin:
distance + frustration
→ frustance
example:
she lived in london, he did not live in london, all she could feel was frustrance when he admitted his feelings for her.
fuzzend (verb)
/fuz-zend/
the confusing moment where the distinction between what constitutes a friend as a “friend” is blurred: your eyes linger at one another for a split second too long, and you mutually think a boundary is about to cross, and right when it is about to, it doesn’t, because you are just friends and just friends don’t quite act like that
origin:
friend + fuzzy
→ fuzzend
example:
as they said goodbye to one another, they fuzzended, departing with confused hearts.
Such a fascinating concepttt
this is the coolest thing ever ever ever