the casual catastrophe
The heavy understatement of apocalyptic scenarios to maintain a stiff upper lip.
Read full entry →The public Definr lexicon
Browse invented words, original phrases, local slang and definitions for oddly specific experiences.
Browse by life domain
Food, home, shopping, travel, weather and the routines of ordinary life.
Relationships, etiquette, community, British culture and public life.
Working life, professions, school, university and study.
Devices, internet culture, entertainment and modern media.
Emotions, habits, health, wellbeing and personal routines.
Pets, wildlife, insects and encounters with the natural world.
Conversation, expressions, humour, writing and imaginative language.
Recently published
The heavy understatement of apocalyptic scenarios to maintain a stiff upper lip.
Read full entry →The cultural inability to simply say 'thank you', usually involving pointing out a flaw in oneself instead.
Read full entry →The weaponization of standard email sign-offs, where 'Kind Regards' is typed with lethal fury.
Read full entry →The hypnotic urge to join a well-formed line purely out of FOMO, regardless of the destination.
Read full entry →The universally understood physical cue that a British person has decided the social engagement is over.
Read full entry →Slowing down from a frantic sprint into a casual stroll immediately after the bus doors close in your face.
Read full entry →An ominous, whistling intake of oxygen used by a repair person to indicate that an issue will be vastly expensive.
Read full entry →The strategic use of meteorological observations to avoid discussing anything of actual personal substance.
Read full entry →A complex, mathematically flawed debate among friends regarding who is legally obligated to buy the next drink.
Read full entry →The inherently British reflex of saying 'sorry' to inanimate objects following a collision.
Read full entry →A passive-aggressive interior design maneuver used to establish ownership of the best spot on the sofa.
Read full entry →The tactical drop to the living room floor to avoid acknowledging an unexpected visitor at the front door.
Read full entry →The primitive, terror-fueled dash from the ground floor light switch to the safety of the bedroom.
Read full entry →The tragic cycle of abandoning wet clothes in a drum until they smell damp, requiring a second cycle.
Read full entry →The mental surrender of an item of clothing that falls into a crevice too dusty or narrow to reach.
Read full entry →The subconscious collection of multiple water receptacles next to a bed over a period of several nights.
Read full entry →A household battle of wills where clean dishes are ignored for days until someone finally breaks.
Read full entry →The act of securing a valuable item in a location so obscure that you effectively hide it from yourself.
Read full entry →A chaotic kitchen repository containing rubber bands, dead batteries, and keys to unidentifiable locks.
Read full entry →The daily relocation of unfolded laundry to whichever piece of furniture you currently need to use.
Read full entry →The devastating split-second of visual connection through the poorly designed crack in a public toilet door.
Read full entry →The desperate, fluid transition from a humiliating stumble into a fake athletic lunge.
Read full entry →The suffocating, enforced quiet that descends upon strangers sharing an elevator.
Read full entry →A catastrophic conversational error where you return a greeting that makes absolutely no sense in context.
Read full entry →The dictionary is still being written
Submit it directly for editorial review, without designing a card first.