Verbivores, Informavore, Logolepts And Wordaholics

Call them word geeks but there are people in America who are in love with the English language. Richard Lederer is one such word lover. Lederer's proclamation is simple, "Carnivores eat meat; herbivores eat plants and vegetables; verbivores devour words."

A Verbivore, Informavore, Logolept, and Wordaholic are four types of word experts.

Lederer seems to be the ultimate wordsmith in America . His website, verbivore.com, boasts two dozen books about words, ranging from language, humor, holiday books, and word puzzles. Lederer also appears at speaking engagements and welcomes questions about linguistics through his website.

Lederer holds a Ph.D. in Linguistics and calls himself "Attila the Pun" and "Conan the Grammarian." He notes that the English language has about 616,000 words. This count is significant compared to the German language which as 185,000 words. The French and Spanish languages have approximately 100,000 words each in their vocabulary. Therefore, the English language is by far the wordiest language on the planet.

Next, there is the Logophile and Logolept. A logophile is a lover of words. A logolept, on the other hand, is "a word maniac." In the same vein, a Verbivore eats words while a verbiphage "devours" words.  For grammarians there seems to be a distinct difference between the extremes they take towards their study of vocabulary.

Writer Derek Geer notes that logophile is not used in the dictionary because the word is not used in mainstream conversation. The irony is that people such as Lederer who eat words use dictionaries as their basis of study.

The extreme case of Logolepsy is called Luciferous Logolepsy.  The basic definition of Luciferous Logolepsy is "an illuminating obsession with words."  This collection of words is for the "adopted, derivative, archaic or abandoned words" in our English language. With over 9,000 words in the collection, it is probably the most extensive list available on the Internet. The luciferous logolepsy includes words such as "skirr, epicaricacy and schizothemia.”

Lastly, there is an unofficial meeting of Wordaholics Anonymous that takes place on the Internet. Hosts Richard Lederer and Martha Barnette talk about words on a KPBS show "A Way with Words," which is podcast on the Odeo network. Lederer and Barnette talk about subjects ranging from Yiddish, proper spelling, pronunciation, slang, and the Latin language. The podcasts can be played directly from the Odeo network, as well as downloading the mp3 file or copying the embed code into a website such as MySpace, Xanga, or Blogger.

Verbivores, informavores, logolepts, and wordaholics certainly have a passion for prose and a love of language.








"Verbivore." Richard Lederer. May 1, 1996. Copyright 1996. Richard Lederer. October 11, 2006. http://www.verbivore.com/


Riverdeep. "Speaking with the Verbivore." Riverdeep Inc., LLC. October 11, 2006.
http://www.riverdeep.net/current/2000/11/111300_le derer.jhtml


The Maven's Word of the Day. "Logophile." Words at Random. September 24, 1997. Copyright 2005. Random House, Inc. October 11, 2006. http://www.randomhouse.com/wotd/index.pperl?date=1 9970924


"Luciferous Logolepsy." Kokogiak. September 7, 2006. Kokogiak.com. October 11, 2006. http://www.kokogiak.com/logolepsy/


Odeo. "Wordaholics Anonymous (podcast)." KPBS Radio. August 21, 2006. KPBS.org. October 11, 2006. http://www.odeo.com/audio/1757499/view


Richard Lederer, Martha Barnette. "A Way With Words." KPBS Radio. October 7, 2006. KPBS.org. October 11, 2006. http://www.kpbs.org/words/