Wytai

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

Wytai

n.
a feature of modern civilization that suddenly strikes you as absurd and grotesque—from pets and milk drinking to organ transplants, life insurance, and fiction—part of a rich legacy of absurdity that dates all the way back to the moment our ancestors first hauled themselves out of the slime, but could not for the life of them remember what they got up to do.

Acronym of When You Think About It. Pronounced “wahy-tahy.”

Allope

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

Vellichor

shelves with many books stacked and organized

Aftersome

rows of opaque and clear marbles

Merrenness

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

Yeorie

a woman with tendrils of smoke moving across her face

Siso

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