The public Definr lexicon
Browse invented words, original phrases, local slang and definitions for oddly specific experiences.
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Recently published
Replacing direct criticism with a compliment so ambiguous it becomes an insult.
Read full entry →The conversational signal that nobody wishes to acknowledge whose fault the situation actually was.
Read full entry →Ending discussion of an avoidable disaster by pretending it was somehow inevitable.
Read full entry →An expression of effortless reassurance hiding significant internal stress.
Read full entry →Projecting complete calm while internally cataloguing seventeen different concerns.
Read full entry →A uniquely British sideways manoeuvre performed with unnecessary apologies.
Read full entry →Attempting to navigate around an oblivious person while repeatedly apologising for their obstruction.
Read full entry →An entirely fictional location into which inconvenient advice is politely deposited and never revisited.
Read full entry →Pretending to consider a suggestion while mentally discarding it forever.
Read full entry →A perfectly clear rejection disguised as a tentative possibility.
Read full entry →Wrapping an unequivocal refusal in imaginary uncertainty for the sake of politeness.
Read full entry →An expression so understated that it somehow makes a disaster sound mildly inconvenient.
Read full entry →Deliberately minimising the severity of a disastrous situation through spectacular understatement.
Read full entry →A verbal alarm signalling that the next sentence will be considerably less respectful than advertised.
Read full entry →Softening the introduction to a criticism without reducing its severity in any way.
Read full entry →A single-word review indicating that something is fundamentally awful while remaining impeccably polite.
Read full entry →Replacing honest criticism with the safely meaningless word 'interesting'.
Read full entry →A completely fictional social arrangement created purely to end an interaction on friendly terms.
Read full entry →Politely suggesting a future social engagement that both parties understand will never happen.
Read full entry →A socially accepted deception in which your own desire to leave is disguised as concern for someone else's time.
Read full entry →Ending a conversation by generously pretending to give the other person permission to leave, despite secretly wanting to escape yourself.
Read full entry →Filling a suitcase with clothing for sunshine, frost, wind and torrential rain all at once.
Read full entry →The seemingly supernatural relationship between outdoor cooking and sudden rainfall.
Read full entry →Trusting the British weather far more than experience suggests you should.
Read full entry →The dictionary is still being written
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