The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows A dictionary of made-up words for emotions

The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows is a website and YouTube channel developed by John Koenig that creates and defines made-up words –  neologisms – for emotions that do not have an existing descriptive term.

Here are two of my favorites:

sonder
n. the realization that each random passerby is living a life as vivid and complex as your own—populated with their own ambitions, friends, routines, worries and inherited craziness—an epic story that continues invisibly around you like an anthill sprawling deep underground, with elaborate passageways to thousands of other lives that you’ll never know existed, in which you might appear only once, as an extra sipping coffee in the background, as a blur of traffic passing on the highway, as a lighted window at dusk.

Credit: The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows

watashiato
n. curiosity about the impact you’ve had on the lives of the people you know, wondering which of your harmless actions or long-forgotten words might have altered the plot of their stories in ways you’ll never get to see.

Credit: The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows

I love this idea – watch his TED Talk or his beautiful videos on his Youtube Channel, such as this one on sonder.

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Tags: dictionary (2) | emotions (11) | John Koenig (3) | neologisms (1) | sonder (2) | The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows (1)

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Photo Credits: Midjourney (Public Domain)