The Whipgraft Delusion

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The Whipgraft Delusion

n.
the phenomenon in which you catch your reflection in the mirror and get the sense that you’re peering into the eyes of a stranger, as if you’re looking at a police sketch of your own face aged forward twenty years, which would imply that the real you is out there somewhere, wandering the streets of your old neighborhood, still at large.

In horticulture, whip grafting is when you fuse the top of one plant to the bottom of another. In psychology, the Capgras delusion is the conviction that a loved one has been replaced by an identical-looking imposter.

Echthesia

blurry image of two clocks

Hanker Sore

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Lap Year

several people racing bicycles uphill in a forest

The Wends

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Keir

a snowy landscape with trees and a fence

Zverism

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