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.

Addleworth

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

Hem-Jawed

an abstract image of someone touching their face

Insoucism

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

Elosy

a blurry image of a person in a subway car

Midding

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

Lap Year

several people racing bicycles uphill in a forest