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.”

Vicarous

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

Wytai

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

Mogging Folly

a person sitting on a bench

The Standard Blues

Cover image for the The Standard Blues word card on the Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows

Harmonoia

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

Etterath

a graduation cap and gown on a chair