Siso

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

Siso

n.
a solitary experience you wish you could have shared with someone else—having dinner in a romantic setting, reaching the summit after an arduous climb, having a run-in with a crazy stranger that nobody’s going to believe—which makes you look around for confirmation that it even happened at all.

Welsh si-so, see-saw, an invention that can only ever be enjoyed by multiple people; when used alone, it’s just a wonky bench. Pronounced “see-soh.”

La Gaudière

Cover image for the La Gaudière word card on the Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows

Desanté

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

Ecury

a close-up of cave drawings and symbols

Wellium

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

Anechosis

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

Angosis

a table full of food