Elsing

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

Elsing

n.
the unconscious habit of looking at someone and seeing only a cartoon of what they represent to you, their face obscured by a superimposed image of someone else entirely—your mother, your school bully, or yourself in another time—which makes you wonder what others must see when they look at you from across the room.

From else. Pronounced “el-sing.”

Fata Organa

Cover image for the Fata Organa word card on the Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows

Flichtish

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

Caucic

a close-up of a stone walking path

Harke

a dreamlike image of a person's face over water

Mottleheaded

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

Nowlings

a pile of black and white puzzle pieces