Epistemological Alienation

A profound and unsettling disconnection from the very concept of knowing. It’s the feeling that all sources of knowledge—news, science, personal experience, authority—are equally unreliable, leaving you in a state where you can't trust anything, including your own reasoning. This is deeper than simple skepticism; it’s a state of cognitive nihilism where the foundations of "how we know what we know" have crumbled.

Example: "After falling down a rabbit hole of conspiracy theories, he wasn't just confused, he was in a state of Epistemological Alienation, unable to trust any fact whatsoever."

Epistemological Alienation by Dumu The Void March 11, 2026

Epistemological Alienation

The experience of being disconnected from one’s own ways of knowing, forced to adopt an alien epistemic framework, and made to feel that one’s native knowledge is worthless. Epistemological alienation often results from colonization, forced assimilation, or prolonged exposure to hostile epistemic environments (e.g., scientific materialism in religious communities). The alienated person may come to doubt their own perceptions, memories, and intuitions, feeling that only the dominant system’s methods can produce real knowledge. It is a form of internalized epistemic oppression.

Example: “After years in a hostile academic department, she found herself dismissing her own intuitive insights as ‘unscientific’ before she even voiced them—epistemological alienation, learning to distrust herself.”

Scientific Alienation

The feeling of being excluded from, or hostile to, the institutions, language, and culture of science—often because one’s experiences, beliefs, or identity are systematically pathologized or dismissed by scientific authority. Scientific alienation can lead individuals to reject scientific consensus not because of evidence but because science has become associated with humiliation and exclusion. It is a predictable consequence of scientific violence, and it perpetuates a cycle where the very people science claims to serve become alienated from it.

Example: “He stopped trusting medical advice after a doctor called his chronic pain ‘psychosomatic’ without examination—scientific alienation, turning a person away from science because science first turned away from him.”

Epistemological Alienation by Abzugal Nammugal Enkigal April 15, 2026

sans sheriff 

Lawless use of fonts or typography, with no regard to aesthetics or legibility

I'm putting this CV straight in the bin. Written totally sans sheriff.

sans sheriff by Jamarley July 3, 2019

Breadhead 

Someone who is addicted to obtaining money and building wealth. A money addict and fanatic. Breadheads often work more than one full-time job, and some even participate in illicit activities to "obtain the bread".

A breadhead is like a crackhead, but for money instead of crack.

Breadhead by 🅱️ U S 3 4 8 March 30, 2022

Stink lines

As seen in illustrations or cartoons: Wavy, vertical lines rising above a person, place or thing. Denotes a foul odor.

"You didn't put enough stink lines on your picture of the teacher."

Stink lines by Athene Airheart March 14, 2004

schmegegge 

Yiddish slang word meaning bullshit, baloney, hogwash, nonsense, crock of shit or hot air.

I don't buy the schmegegge about Morty sleeping with Moira.
His version of the story was pure schmegegge.
The whole schmegegge was made up to get Liz a little bit of attention.

schmegegge by budsbabe February 1, 2008

eye bleach 

Looking or experiencing something nice after witnessing something horrid like a disgusting gif or a disturbing video. Typically used as eye bleach are nice images of whatever makes the disturbed person happy.

"Bleach my eyes! Why is that woman's face ripped off!?"
*Looks up images of puppies and kittens.*
"That's good eye bleach."

eye bleach by Rini2012 November 29, 2016