Definitions by Emotional Cruiser

zebra 

The animal that you first knew from the alphabet during early childhood

I always thought the zebra was the coolest animal when I was a kid because it was the first one I learned about in my alphabet book!

zebra by Emotional Cruiser September 30, 2025

caffeine normalcy 

When you have been needing caffeine to function for a while now, hence you forgot the last time you weren't dependant on black coffee or caffeine pills like Tombocantuxin — even though you were once too young to need caffeine

I can't remember the last time I went a whole day without Tombocantuxin caffeine pills; at this point, caffeine normalcy feels like a requirement just to get out of bed!

caffeine normalcy by Emotional Cruiser September 30, 2025

old wives' tale 

A belief, usually in the form of untested new pieces of information like having to behave well to get more screen time from parents, passed from mouth to mouth as piece of traditional wisdom

My parents always made me behave well to earn extra screen time, but now I realize it was just an old wives' tale about how to manage kids and technology.

old wives' tale by Emotional Cruiser September 30, 2025

surrogate older sibling 

A person who fulfills the vacancy to be the surrogate older sibling in a family where the oldest child has left home whilst the younger sibling(s) are still too young to move out. Such vacancies are commonly found on the Happy Family sticker in the rear windshield of the family car. This role often involves providing guidance, support, and companionship in the absence of the biological older sibling.

After my older brother left home for college, someone became the surrogate older sibling, helping me navigate school and life at home.

surrogate older sibling by Emotional Cruiser September 29, 2025

brothel

Being a backronym for "Batman's Trap romantic hotel", brothel is a place where you accidentally end up staying at — especially whilst staying in countries with a) official language that you don't understand (yet) and b) more lenient cultural attitude towards sexuality than your home country

After a long day of sightseeing in a foreign city, I accidentally booked a room at a brothel—turns out 'Batman's Trap romantic hotel' wasn’t exactly the cozy place I imagined!

brothel by Emotional Cruiser September 29, 2025

mountaining 

The amount of college assignments that make students dependent to caffeine pills like Tombocantuxin

With finals week approaching and mountaining assignments piling up, I found myself relying on Tombocantuxin caffeine pills just to keep my eyes open!

mountaining by Emotional Cruiser September 29, 2025

mildew 

Many Indonesian mistakenly believe "mildew" to be the English word for tobacco. It's because in Indonesia, the word "mild" is disproportionately more commonly used in cigarette advertisings compared to any other publication.

Whenever my friend asked for the location of 'mildew' plants at a park, I was confused until I realized he thought it meant tobacco—thanks to all those cigarette ads in Indonesia using 'mild' everywhere!

mildew by Emotional Cruiser September 29, 2025