Emorries

a magnifying glass over photos and books

Emorries

n.
vivid memories of a certain experience that you carry in your head for years until they’re casually disputed by someone who remembers it very differently—correcting basic chronology, clarifying a misread gesture, or adding context you never knew—which makes you want to look again at all the images you’ve been using to piece together your worldview, wondering what details might’ve been hidden in shadow all this time, or washed out by your own naïveté.

After documentary filmmaker Errol Morris, whose work often addresses the fallibility of memory and how little of reality can be captured in a photograph. Pronounced “em-uh-reez,” like memories, but with a piece missing.

Ironsick

a group of random devices

Knellish

a blurry image of a person lying on a bed

Routwash

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

The Kick Drop

Cover image for the The Kick Drop word card on the Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows

Wenbane

a person standing on a ledge looking at a city skyline

Blinkback

a wall full of pictures and objects