a field guide to resurrected wordsthe cabinet · resurrection.fun
archive live · 22 specimens catalogued · dormant on this devicesig ▂▄▄▂▁▁ · drift nominal
a cabinet of awakened words

A Field Guide to
Resurrected Words

Precise old words that named real things, fell out of use, and lie in the ground fully formed. Each is a machine you operate, not a definition you read.

the curator sets out one specimen a dayhomoiconicitythe code that reads as its own data
Notice
№ 000 is apocryphal. The registry priced its true name beyond our means — which proved the word still has power — so it leads the canon from exile, held here at the hub where no one can ransom it twice.

The Cabinet

22 plates
№ 000†◌apocryphal.tax
quiescence
a system at rest — settled, nothing in flight
S-8796 · operate me
№ 001◌hysteresis.fun
hysteresis
what it does next depends on what you did before
S-8506 · operate me
№ 002◌thrashing.fun
thrashing
maximum activity. zero progress.
S-9517 · operate me
№ 003◌idempotent.fun
idempotent
press it again. nothing. that's the point.
S-9846 · operate me
№ 004◌livelock.fun
livelock
two parties politely yielding, forever
S-2712 · operate me
№ 005◌quincunx.fun
quincunx
five dots, one bell curve, endless beans
S-6666 · operate me
№ 006◌velleity.fun
velleity
wanting something too weakly to act on it
S-2341 · operate me
№ 007◌heisenbug.fun
heisenbug
behaves perfectly the moment you look
S-5777 · operate me
№ 008◌backpressure.fun
backpressure
the pipe's opinion about your enthusiasm
S-2741 · operate me
№ 009◌defenestrate.fun
defenestrate
there is a window. you know what to do.
S-4915 · operate me
№ 010◌stigmergy.fun
stigmergy
the ants never spoke. the trail did.
S-1374 · operate me
№ 011◌marshalling.fun
marshalling
getting everyone in order before crossing
S-4349 · operate me
№ 012◌bikeshedding.fun
bikeshedding
the reactor was approved in minutes
S-7254 · operate me
№ 013◌rubrics.fun
rubric
written in red, graded without mercy
S-9364 · operate me
№ 014◌apocryphal.tax
tombstone
deleted, but never gone
S-4376 · operate me
№ 015◌homoiconicity.fun
homoiconicity
the code that reads as its own data
S-2719 · operate me
№ 016◌zenzizenzizenzic.fun
zenzizenzizenzic
x⁸. the dictionary's most ridiculous resident.
S-6348 · operate me
№ —†◌resurrection.fun
bitrot
it was fine when you left it. leaving it was the problem.
S-2445 · operate me
№ —†◌resurrection.fun
thunk
it has not happened yet. it may never need to.
S-9903 · operate me
№ —†◌apocryphal.tax
premortem
died before it happened. rehearsed the autopsy anyway.
S-4906 · operate me
BONUS◌controlplane.fun
controlplane
the part that decides, not the part that does
S-9464 · operate me
BONUS◌dopaminefracking.party
dopaminefracking
pump the reward system dry, one pull at a time
S-4387 · operate me
№ —sealed
catalogued. not yet dug.
№ —sealed
the ground is not done with it.
№ —sealed
awaiting a slow afternoon.
pilgrims through the gate 0
crawlers, ghosts, and the occasional living reader