The Obscure Roots of Exulansis

Hello,

This week’s word isn’t to be found in any mainstream dictionaries because it was coined by author John Koenig for his “Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows”. He wanted to fill the linguistic gaps in our words to describe emotions and our inner lives. Exulansis is one he created for the project.

Sunset, Wexford, Ireland

Koenig defined exulansis as ” the tendency to give up trying to talk about an experience because people are unable to relate to it”. Most of us have had this experience at some point in our lives. Enthusing about a wonderful new book I read recently to somebody who doesn’t enjoy reading generally leads to a glazed look on my audience’s face. You trail off in mid-sentence, aware that you’ve lost them.

Thankfully he also tells us how to say the word. It’s pronounced “ek-suh-lan-sis”, apparently.

He created etymologies for all the words too. Now that’s a move I admire. For exulansis he tells readers that exulans in Latin means exile or wanderer thanks to the diomedea exulans, the Wandering Albatross. You may be aware that the albatross is a large sea bird which rarely lands. They can fly for hours without even flapping their wings and over the centuries much sailor folklore has accumulated around these astonishing birds.

For some it was a symbol of good luck, but for others it might announce a curse. This is perhaps best known thanks to Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s famous poem “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner” (1798) where the mariner kills the bird, believing it to be a bad omen.

Now the next time you’re telling a story and you notice those listening can’t connect to your experience, at least you know the word for it. You’re experiencing exulansis.

Until next time happy reading, writing, and wordfooling,

Grace (@Wordfoolery)

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