disaster-shrinking
Compressing catastrophic events into manageable anecdotes through understatement.
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
Compressing catastrophic events into manageable anecdotes through understatement.
Read full entry →A dignified conversational withdrawal that avoids further disagreement.
Read full entry →Acknowledging someone else's effort while quietly maintaining your original opinion.
Read full entry →A sentence that technically recognises an effort while enthusiastically withholding praise.
Read full entry →Avoiding direct criticism by acknowledging only the existence of the chosen approach.
Read full entry →A polite conversational gap left solely to avoid sounding blunt.
Read full entry →Adding imaginary hope to an answer that is, in reality, a firm refusal.
Read full entry →An entirely theatrical pause suggesting options still exist.
Read full entry →Pretending to deliberate despite having settled the matter long ago.
Read full entry →A hidden catalogue of unresolved annoyance disguised as reassurance.
Read full entry →A verbal alarm indicating that something deeply insulting is about to be said.
Read full entry →Attempting to neutralise an offensive statement by announcing it beforehand.
Read full entry →A conversational formality whose answer has absolutely no effect on what follows.
Read full entry →Politely requesting approval before immediately ignoring whether it was granted.
Read full entry →A spectacular piece of understatement describing weather capable of freezing your eyebrows.
Read full entry →Reducing extreme weather conditions to a mildly inconvenient observation.
Read full entry →The automatic British response of downplaying positive circumstances.
Read full entry →Deliberately understating personal happiness to avoid appearing overly enthusiastic.
Read full entry →A dramatic conversational build-up to an opinion that surprises absolutely nobody.
Read full entry →Introducing an entirely ordinary opinion as though it required exceptional courage to reveal.
Read full entry →Concluding an argument with apparent agreement while internally remaining unconvinced.
Read full entry →The comforting idea that no matter how bad things are, an even worse version probably exists.
Read full entry →Diluting obvious suffering with traditional British understatement.
Read full entry →A polite observation indicating that someone has made an extraordinary error in judgement.
Read full entry →The dictionary is still being written
Submit it directly for editorial review, without designing a card first.