Your living lexicon — est. 2025
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An irresolvable internal contradiction in a text, argument, or theory. A state of perplexity from which there is no logical exit.
"Derrida delighted in finding the aporia lurking beneath every confident assertion."
To a moderate degree; somewhat. Used to hedge a statement or admit a feeling without full commitment. Connotes cool understatement.
"I lowkey loved that movie but I can't say it out loud around my friends."
The limits of my language mean the limits of my world.
— Ludwig Wittgenstein · Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus
The appearance of being true or real. The quality of a narrative that makes it feel plausible within its fictional world.
The practice of snubbing someone in a social setting by focusing on your phone rather than engaging in conversation.
"She caught him phubbing her mid-sentence at dinner again."
The pleasant, earthy smell produced when rain falls on dry soil. Caused by an oil secreted by plants during drought, absorbed by rocks and earth.
"The first petrichor of summer arrived before the thunder did."
Having well-shaped buttocks. From the Greek — used adoringly by the ancient Greeks who built entire sculptures around the concept.
"The Venus Callipyge of Naples stands as antiquity's most unapologetic ode to form."
The philosophical position that only one's own mind is certain to exist. The external world and other minds cannot be known with certainty.
A romantic or sexual relationship that lacks clear definition, commitment, or official label. More than friends, less than partners.
"Three months in and they still hadn't defined it. Classic situationship."
Beginning a narrative in the middle of the action, without preamble or backstory. A technique from Horace's Ars Poetica. Homer did it first.
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