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.”

Future-Tense

a person looking at their reflection

Galagog

a person alone in a snowy desolate landscape

Amentalio

a person in a white dress, facing away

Elosy

a blurry image of a person in a subway car

Vellichor

shelves with many books stacked and organized

Aftergloom

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