Aulasy

a blurry image of a house on the road

Aulasy

n.
the sadness that there’s no way to convey a powerful memory to people who weren’t there at the time—driving past your childhood home to show it to a friend, or pointing at a picture of a loved one you lost, only to realize that to them it’s just another house, just another face.

A contraction of auld lang syne, which is Scots for “times long past”—fragments of which are still present in aulasy, but the meaning has been lost. Pronounced “awl-uh-see.”

Hiddled

Cover image for the Hiddled word card on the Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows

Fellchaser

a blurred shadow of a person in a dark room

Wenbane

a person standing on a ledge looking at a city skyline

Routwash

Cover image for the Routwash word card on the Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows

Heart Of Aces

a person covering their eyes with their hands

Leidenfreude

Cover image for the Leidenfreude word card on the Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows