What is a fortnight? Taylor Swift's 'Tortured Poets Department' lyrical dictionary

Grace Tucker, Cincinnati Enquirer
·2 min read
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An artist long characterized by her knack for lyricism, Taylor Swift indulges fans and critics alike in her latest work, a double album titled "The Tortured Poets Department: The Anthology."

The work, released on April 19, consists of a whopping 31 tracks, including songs with appearances from Post Malone and Florence Welch of Florence and the Machine.

With a smattering of lyrical references that some are calling "uncharacteristically juvenile, shallow and pedestrian" and others, such as The Guardian, liken to "songwriting gold," the 14-time Grammy winner's newest project has attracted mixed reviews.

Despite how it's received, critics and fans alike seem to agree on one thing about the album: "The Tortured Poets Department" is incredibly lyrically dense.

Put simply, there are a lot of sophisticated words in the album — so many that searches for title tracks like "What is a fortnight?" exploded over 800% after the album's release, according to Google search data analysis by QR Code Generator.

So, we enter into evidence definitions for some of the album's most tortured word choices.

A dictionary for Taylor Swift's 'The Tortured Poets Department' album

All definitions have been taken from Merriam-Webster's Dictionary. Words are listed chronologically in the order they appear on the album.

1. Fortnight

  • Appears in "Fortnight (ft. Post Malone)"

  • "And for a fortnight there we were, forever running."

  • Defined as "a period of 14 days or two weeks."

2. Litany

  • Appears in "My Boy Only Breaks His Favorite Toys"

  • "There was a litany of reasons why / We could've played for keeps this time."

  • Defined as "a usually lengthy recitation or enumeration; a sizable series or set."

3. Petulance

  • Appears in "Down Bad"

  • "Now I'm down bad, cryin' at the gym / Everything comes out teenage petulance."

  • Defined as "insolent or rude in speech or behavior."

4. Sanctimoniously

  • Appears in "But Daddy I Love Him"

  • "God save the most judgmental creeps / Who say they want what's best for me / Sanctimoniously performing soliloquies I'll never see."

  • Defined as "hypocritically pious or devout."

5. Propriety

  • Appears in "Guilty as Sin?"

  • "If long-suffering propriety / Is what they want from me / They don't know how you've haunted me / So stunningly."

  • Defined as "conformity to what is socially acceptable in conduct or speech."

6. Alchemy

  • Appears in "The Alchemy"

  • "Honestly, who are we to fight the alchemy?"

  • Defined as "a power or process that changes or transforms something in a mysterious or impressive way."

7. Esoteric

  • Appears in "The Black Dog"

  • "Were you making fun of me with some esoteric joke?"

  • Defined as "requiring or exhibiting knowledge that is restricted to a small group."

8. Albatross

  • Appears in "The Albatross"

  • "She's the albatross / She is here to destroy you."

  • Defined as "something that causes persistent deep concern or anxiety; something that greatly hinders accomplishment."

9. Persona non grata

  • Appears in "The Albatross"

  • "And when that sky rains fire on you / And you're persona non grata / I'll tell you how I've been there too / And that none of it matters."

  • Defined as "a person who is unacceptable or unwelcome."

10. Maladies

  • Appears in "How Did It End?"

  • "Our maladies were such we could not cure them / And so a touch that was my birthright became foreign."

  • Defined as "an unwholesome or disordered condition."

11. Bereft

  • Appears in "How Did It End?"

  • "The deflation of our dreaming / Leaving me bereft and reeling."

  • Defined as "deprived or robbed of the possession or use of something."

12. Throttle

  • Appears in "The Prophecy"

  • "Hand on the throttle / Thought I caught lightning in a bottle / Oh, but it's gone again."

  • Defined as "to regulate and especially to reduce the speed of (something, such as an engine) by such means."

13. Torrid

  • Appears in "The Manuscript"

  • "Now and then she rereads the manuscript / Of the entire torrid affair."

  • Defined as "ardent, passionate."

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Defining 13 words in Taylor Swift's 'The Tortured Poets Department'