obscurely

It’s a clever update, not least because the men’s masochistic undertaking — to forego pleasure for the sake of an obscurely defined idea of personal advancement — prefigures the self-optimization fetish that today’s social media gurus are hustling.

The competitive primaries of crypto-supporting Democratic Maryland Senate candidates David Trone and Angela Ashbrook have seen a large influx of money from obscurely named crypto PACs like Defend American Jobs.

First came Joel Thompson’s “To See the Sky,” obscurely subtitled “an exegesis for orchestra.”

"The tradition of fruitcakes dates back centuries," says Dean Harper, "though their association with Christmas only became widespread in the Middle Ages. Obscurely enough, England passed some laws that prohibited the use of cake outside of holidays, leading many to treat it as a celebratory treat. On top of that, England saw an emerging tradition of eating the Twelfth Night cake to commemorate the end of the Christmas season. Naturally, this transitioned to the USA during the period of colonialization."

The viral meme infiltrating our fraught politics began obscurely on a New Zealand radio show on which the hosts help rationalize absurd, illogical purchases their listeners share with them.