I’ve always had an interest in words, and particularly relish neologisms, regularly visiting the wonderful Word Spy site. So when I came across a reference – on Facebook of all things! – to The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows, it was love at first sight.
The Dictionary is the brainchild of John Koenig who has invented neologisms for emotions that are otherwise undefined. His blog expands on these words, using videos to illustrate the definitions.
The words at the beginning of this post are taken from The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows. They posssess a haunting quality that almost need a word to express the feelings they evoke.
Then again you feel delighted to recognize the emotions as being pertinent to your own experience.
Perhaps he should develop a Dictionary of Obscure Joys, such as the soothing and warm feeling evoked when thinking of familiar things that interest you, in my case horse racing, which I find pleasant to contemplate.
