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.”

Lackout

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

Suerza

a tunnel with a light emanating from the end

Alpha Exposure

a close-up of a baby with diffusion filter

Deep Gut

Cover image for the Deep Gut word card on the Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows

Mauerbauertraurigkeit

Mauerbauer-traurigkeit

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

Thwit

close-up of a person with forehead wrinkled and holding their head