Reverse-lookup glossary that turns a vague description of a web animation or motion effect into its exact term ("the bouncy thing when a popover opens" becomes Pop in; "the iOS rubber-band scroll" becomes Rubber-banding).
Reverse-lookup glossary that turns a vague description of a web animation or motion effect into its exact term ("the bouncy thing when a popover opens" becomes Pop in; "the iOS rubber-band scroll" becomes Rubber-banding). Use when someone asks "what's it called when...", "what's the word for...", or describes an effect they cannot name and wants the right term to prompt an AI or a designer with. Naming only - do NOT use to choose easings, durations or spring values (use motion-design-principles), to build a motion token system (use animation-system), or to implement the effect.This is the skill's description: the text your AI reads to decide when the skill applies.
animation-vocabulary/SKILL.md
> **Mirrored skill.** *Animation Vocabulary* by **Emil Kowalski** — originally
> [`animation-vocabulary`](https://github.com/emilkowalski/skills/tree/70744e3816f1d93eafb697161a8b880a7384c5ff/skills/animation-vocabulary) in
> [github.com/emilkowalski/skills](https://github.com/emilkowalski/skills). MIT licensed,
> © 2026 Emil Kowalski. Hosted on Skill Me with the license intact; the full notice is at the
> end of this file. Emil's deeper material: [animations.dev](https://animations.dev/).
>
> **Skill Me changes from the original:**
> - Corrected the "Layout thrashing" definition, which described reflow-triggering properties rather than the actual term (interleaved DOM read/write forcing synchronous layout), and split the original text out into a correct "Triggering layout (reflow)" entry. This is the one factual error in the file and it matters most here, because the skill's whole purpose is to give users correct words to prompt with.
> - Replaced a maintainer-facing "keep the two in sync" note with a plain source pointer; the installing user does not own the page it referenced.
---
# Animation Vocabulary
Turn a vague description of a motion or effect into the precise term, so the user knows what to ask for.
## Quick Start
The user describes an effect loosely. You return the matching term(s) in this format:
```
**Stagger** — Animate several items one after another with a small delay between each, creating a cascade.
```
If several terms could fit, list the best match first, then 1–2 alternates with a one-line note on how they differ.… load the full skill through Skill Me