Kenaway

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

Kenaway

n.
the longing to see how other people live their lives when they’re not in public; wishing you could tune in to the raw feed of another human existence, in all its messiness and solitude—shimmying in place while brushing their teeth, squabbling over where to put the shoes, talking out their problems on solitary commutes—if only to give you something to compare your own life against, and figure out whether you’re bizarrely normal or normally bizarre.

From ken, one’s range of knowledge + keep-away, a game in which one player tries to intercept a ball being tossed back and forth by two others. Pronounced “ken-uh-wey.”

Flashover

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

Daguerreologue

Daguer-reologue

a man sitting in blurred silhouette at a desk

Midsummer

a person standing in a garden holding a clock

Addleworth

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

Anti-Aliasing

Cover image for the Anti-Aliasing word card on the Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows

Vicarous

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