The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows

The Upper Midwest's third-largest compendium of the outer spatters of the emotional palette. Our mission is to harpoon, bag and tag wild sorrows then release them back into the subconscious.

Each definition is original and handcrafted by John Koenig, a freelance graphic designer and writer based in St. Paul, Minnesota. Give feedback, tell us about your day or suggest a new word at obscuresorrows@gmail.com. By including your name and hometown you are granting us the right to like you, to reply, and to forever enshrine your name in the tags.

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Duchenne de Boulogne demonstrates the mechanics of expression by electrically stimulating the facial muscles of a live subject whose face had been paralyzed.
Copyright © 2010 John Koenig.
The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows

contact high-five

n. an innocuous touch by someone just doing their job—a barber, yoga instructor or friendly waitress—that you enjoy more than you’d like to admit, a feeling of connection so stupefyingly simple that it cheapens the power of the written word, so that by the year 2025, aspiring novelists would be better off just giving people a hug.

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  15. iichlits reblogged this from standardgrey and added:
    n. an innocuous touch by someone just doing their job—a barber, yoga instructor or friendly waitress—that you enjoy more...
  16. shesafan reblogged this from dictionaryofobscuresorrows and added:
    PWOAR. I know EXACTLY what this describes.
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  18. callmemisterfahrenheit reblogged this from dictionaryofobscuresorrows and added:
    This is still one...most true things I’ve ever known.
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    waitress— that
  21. misskeyszz reblogged this from dictionaryofobscuresorrows and added:
    went through this with...hairwasher guy when I got my hair cut last weekend :x. I blame my...
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