Waldosia

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

Waldosia

n.
a condition in which you keep scanning faces in a crowd looking for a specific person who would have no reason to be there, as if your brain is checking to see whether they’re still in your life, subconsciously patting its emotional pockets before it leaves for the day.

From the Where’s Waldo? series of picture books, or in some countries, Where’s Wally?, in which the reader tries to spot one specific person somewhere in a massive crowd. Pronounced “wawl-doh-zhuh” or “wawl-doh-see-uh.”

Keep

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

Arroia

people standing on a stage

Catoptric Tristesse

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

Heartworm

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

Fitching

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

Mal De Coucou

a blurry image of several men