John Koenig’s 'Kenopsia', and 'The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows'

12 Mar

Originally shared: Sunday 3 March 2019

I discovered the word 'kenopsia' many moons ago in the Independent article 'The Top Ten: Obscure Sorrows' and wanted to find out more.

'kenopsia', (from the Greek, kenosis "emptiness" + opsia "seeing")
n. the eerie, forlorn atmosphere of a place that’s usually bustling with people but is now abandoned and quiet—a school hallway in the evening, an unlit office on a weekend, vacant fairgrounds—an emotional afterimage that makes it seem not just empty but hyper-empty, with a total population in the negative, who are so conspicuously absent they glow like neon signs

From 'The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows'

The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows is an online compendium of invented words written by John Koenig. Each original definition aims to fill a hole in the language — to give a name to emotions we all might experience but don’t yet have a word for. I emailed John to ask if he would be okay for my use of this word for the show. Obviously, he said "yes". 😍

▲ YouTube - Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows | Kenopsia: The Eeriness of Places Left Behind - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OzkLgLtVreg

What a fascinating word! Appropriate sounding and very identifiable with yet somehow, oddly, very new. The word is only 6 years old (as of 2019). John Koenig has spent several recent years creating words intending for them to be published in the near future by Simon & Schuster.

▼ You can see his 2016 TEDx talk "The Conquest Of New Words", at Berkeley University where he expands upon his philosophy of language and what he is intending to do with the words he has created.

▲ YouTube - TEDx Talks | The conquest of new words | John Koenig | TEDxBerkeley - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ANFQPEkczYc

▼ Here's a TEDx talk which took place in Mumbai in 2016 titled, "Deciphering the Language of Emotion"

▲ YouTube - TEDx Talks | Deciphering the language of emotion | John Koenig | TEDxEMWS - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ygbksxK7n4Y

▼ Following is a playlist of all the videos on the The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows Youtube page. (link)

***UPDATE***
I’m pleased to say John’s book has now been published. Called the ‘The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows’, 2022, it is currently available as a hardback published by Simon & Schuster. Available from all good bookshops.

ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1501153648