Wollah

a person with shapes raining on them

Wollah

n.
something you’ve misunderstood for years without knowing it—a familiar word with a weird pronunciation, a favorite saying that means the opposite of what you thought, a well-known factoid that was disproven years ago while you weren’t looking—making you want to stress-test the foundations of your understanding of reality.

A mispronunciation of the French voilà, “behold!” Pronounced “wawl-uh.”

Punt Kick

Cover image for the Punt Kick word card on the Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows

La Gaudière

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

Mogging Folly

a person sitting on a bench

Thrapt

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

Heartworm

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

Lockheartedness

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

Flashover

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

Anti-Aliasing

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

Eftless

a person with hands pressed on a window

Symptomania

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

Latigo

aerial view of a city at night

Halfwise

a train coming towards the camera shot from the tracks