The best words to describe language-related experiences, reading, and other related phenomena
Logos is the very first word of the Gospel of St John: ‘In the beginning was the Word’. (Logos means ‘word’.) And ‘logos’, it turns out, has given us a raft of great wordy words – word-related terms which describe our infatuation, and frustration, with language. Nomen, the Latin for ‘name’, has also given us some great terms, so we’ve included one of those here as well, in this post outlining the best words about language or related phenomena: reading, names, and the like. We hope you enjoy them.
Alogotransiphobia denotes the fear of being caught on public transport with nothing to read. The word hasn’t found its way into dictionaries yet. It was coined by a novelist in 1992, according to Paul Dickson in his informative book of word-trivia, Authorisms: Words Wrought by Writers
A logodaedalus is someone who is cunning with words; it was first used by poet and playwright Ben Jonson in 1611.
A logolept is a word-maniac or word-nerd.
Loganamnosis refers to the mania for trying to recall a forgotten word.
Logomisia denotes a disgust for certain words.
Logamnesia means the act of forgetting a word.
Logodaedaly refers to the arbitrary coining of new words.
Ezra Pound coined the word logopœia, which he defined as ‘the dance of the intellect among words’.
The word logomachy denotes an argument about words.
The word onomatomania means ‘intense mental anguish at the inability to recall some word or to name a thing’.
More great word facts can be found in our bumper compendium of language facts.
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Reblogged this on Brainfluff and commented:
As a confirmed LOGOLEPT, I couldn’t resist reblogging this lovely post all about wordy wordiness…
Reblogged this on Janet’s thread.
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I have onomatomania, as I will never remember any of these cool words.
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