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.”

Backmasking

a woman's face with a double exposure

Catoptric Tristesse

Cover image for the Catoptric Tristesse word card on the Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows

Lookaback

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Moriturism

a person resting in the back seat of a car

Hubilance

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

Heartworm

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