Foreclearing

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

Foreclearing

n.
the act of deliberately refusing to learn the scientific explanations of things out of fear that it’ll ruin the magic—turning flower petals into tacky billboards, decoding birdsong into trash talk, defracting a rainbow back inside its tiny prism.

Danish forklaring, explanation. Pronounced “fohr-kleer-ing.”

Archimony

a person looking at broken furniture

Nowlings

a pile of black and white puzzle pieces

Zielschmerz

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

Dolonia

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

Mogging Folly

a person sitting on a bench

Kerisl

piles of old books scattered in an abandoned room