The unreasonable fear that there is a spider with the personality of Piers Morgan somewhere.

From Greek "αποβάθρα" (pier), "αράχνη" (spider) and English suffix -phobia.

The retrospective delight experienced when an apparently unnecessary, extravagant, or ill-advised purchase turns out to have been an exceptionally good idea.

The ability to conjure snowfall by the mere mention of the word "Snow".

From Ancient Greek χιών (khiṓn, “snow”) + γένεσις (génesis, “origin, creation”), via Latin. The simplex genesis as a common noun (as opposed to Genesis, the name of the biblical book) dates from the late 16th century; as an English suffix, from the mid-17th century (attested in epigenesis and palingenesis). Influenced by French -génésie and German -genese, and productive in scientific vocabulary from the 19th century.

The systematic study and documentation of places, structures, objects and technologies that have outlived their original purpose.

From Greek "εγκατάλειψη" (enkatáleipsi, abandonment), combined with the English suffix "-ics", denoting a field of study.

The eerie, forlorn atmosphere of a place that is usually bustling with people but is now empty and quiet.

Coined by John Koenig. From Greek keno- (empty) + -opsia (seeing).

The state of being infatuated with another person, characterized by intrusive thinking, acute longing, and an intense sensitivity to the other person's actions.

Coined by Dorothy Tennov in Love and Limerence (1979).

More honest than 'infatuation'. It names the cognitive dimension — the intrusion — that infatuation papers over.

“The phenomenon whereby an error in a message becomes apparent the instant the message has been sent.”

From Greek μετά (metá, “after”), στέλλω (stéllō, “to send, dispatch”) and ὄψις (ópsis, “sight, seeing”).

A dramatic object whose nonexistence does not prevent it from becoming threatening; the inverse of Chekhov’s Gun, deriving its significance not from eventual use, but from the expectation that something might happen involving it.

From the dramatic style of Harold Pinter, in which ambiguity, anticipation, silence, and unexplained menace frequently carry more weight than explicit action.

The well-founded awareness of one’s own subject-matter competence; the condition of genuinely knowing the shit one is talking about.

From Greek σκῶρ (“dung, excrement”), genitive “σκατός”, and “γιγνώσκειν” (to know, to understand)

The strange wistfulness of used bookstores — the sense of accumulated lives, of all the readers who came before, now gone.

Coined by John Koenig. From vellum + ichor (the ethereal fluid in the veins of the gods).