a hunger for words

Remember that thrill as a kid when you heard a new word? That moment before learning its meaning, full of mystery and possibility? That's the essence of a verbivore - someone who doesn't just use words, but loves and savors them.

verbivore

Pronunciation: \ vər-bō-ˈvȯr \

Etymology: A playful portmanteau of the Latin word "verbum" (meaning "word") and the Latin suffix "-vore" (derived from "vorare," meaning "to devour"), suggesting one who consumes words with voracious enthusiasm.

Noun: An individual with an insatiable appetite for words, constantly seeking to consume and define every term they encounter, driven by a relentless pursuit of linguistic knowledge and understanding.

We all start as word-hungry kids, constantly asking, "What does that mean?" Some never lose this spark, growing into adults who collect words like others collect records or wine. There's still something magical about paging through a physical dictionary, stumbling upon unexpected words and meanings.

As a child, I dreamed of owning the Oxford English Dictionary (OED). Picture a nine-year-old, dwarfed by towering bookshelves groaning under the weight of 20 massive volumes, each as thick as my arm. The absurdity of it! Where would I even put them all?

Today, technology makes word meanings instantly accessible. Language is reinventing itself daily. New tools help us track this evolution, capturing emerging phrases like "rizz," "doomscrolling," or "extreme heat event" that my childhood dictionary could not have known, let alone foreseen. No cap.

There is so much we don’t know, and even more we don’t know yet. So, here's to all the verbivores out there. Keep being curious. Keep asking what words mean. Keep making up new ones. Savor every word you learn, whether you find it in an old book or a new app.