The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows: 10 Fictional Words You Need to Know
Words are, to me, what 22-year-olds are to Leonardo DiCaprio: We really can't help ourselves.
One of the most popular features we run here at Cappuccino is the Word-a-Palooza, which gives me hope for the future of human civilization. Curiosity about, and appreciation of, one’s language is a sign that all is not lost. Not yet, at least.
You would think an old word-hound like me might be a purist when it comes to language. I’m not. English has been in a constant state of evolution. This is not true of all languages, by the way—modern Icelandic, for instance, has deviated little from its original parent, Old Norse.
Shakespeare invented words the way a counterfeiter produces coins—abundantly, gleefully. He was a master at it. The word “swagger,” for instance, which he trotted out in A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Find me a better word than that one. It can’t be done.
Marvelously, the words I’m about to share with you don’t actually exist in the Merriam-Webster/Oxford English Dictionary sense of the word. They’re from one of the coolest things, word-wise, I’ve ever come across, which is US writer John Koenig’s masterpiece, The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows.
As you are about to discover, Koenig is the Ambrose Bierce of “obscure sorrows,” and an astute one at that. The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows first took shape as an online index and then as a library of viral videos featuring fictitious words. Koenig has a remarkable aptitude for conjuring words that actually sound like what they’re describing. Exulansis, for instance. According to Koenig, exulansis means: to give up trying to talk about an experience because people are unable to relate to it.
In a single word, the dude just described my whole life.
In what is surely a sly reference to Ambrose Bierce’s The Devil’s Dictionary, Koenig explains on his website that his “mission is to capture the aches, demons, vibes, joys and urges that roam the wilderness of the psychological interior.” To be sure, these aren’t words that are easy to drop into conversation, even contextualized conversation, but just knowing there are people out there experiencing the same obscure sorrows you’re experiencing, and that words have been coined to describe them … well, that’s like a big casserole dish full of macaroni and cheese, only the cheese is extra cheesy and the crust is just a little bit burnt around the edges. Mmmm. Pure comfort food.
Now, you’ll have your own “fictionary” of words, subverted. If that doesn’t make you an iconoclast and a rebel, what will?
Sonder: the realization that each passerby has a life as vivid and complex as your own.
Opia: the ambiguous intensity of looking someone in the eye, which can feel simultaneously invasive and vulnerable.
Vellichor: the strange wistfulness of used bookshops.
Rubatosis: the unsettling awareness of your own heartbeat.
Kenopsia: the eerie, forlorn atmosphere of a place that is usually bustling with people but is now abandoned and quiet.
Jouska: a hypothetical conversation that you compulsively play out in your own head.
Chrysalism: the amniotic tranquility of being indoors during a thunderstorm.
Anecdoche: a conversation in which everyone is talking, but nobody is listening.
Liberosis: the desire to care less about things.
Adronitis: frustration with how long it it takes to get to know someone.
And there are so many more!
A pity I didn’t discover this marvel before the gift-giving holidays, but for the logophile in your life, every day is a holiday that The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows in it.
Seriously, this thing is a treasure. Think: birthdays.
Where to buy the book: click here.
Koenig’s YouTube channel: click here.
Let me lay one more delicious definition on you:
Etterath: the feeling of emptiness after a long and arduous process is finally complete—having finished school, recovered from surgery, or gone home at the end of your wedding—which leaves you relieved that it’s over but missing the stress that organized your life into a mission.
After reading my online version of The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows, I was determined to one day own the hardcover version, which would then take pride of place on my bookshelf.
While you’re at it, make a list of your obscure sorrows and see if you can put a name to them.
You will find it oddly comforting!
Do you have any wonderful made-up words you’d like to share? I’m all ears. Leave your comments in the comments section below.
I love this idea. My problem is that everything I come up with sound like an obscenity.🤷🏻♂️
Invertebrat: Kevin McCarthy!🤣