oisheeshemontee Tue Feb 02, 2010 10:57 pmWhat do you love most about Valentine’s Day? Is it the romance in the air? The pink and red roses, the cute Hallmark cards? Or maybe just the chocolate? Whatever it is, learn to say exactly what you love by adding these ten lovely new words to your vocabulary.
1) Anthophilia – Love of flowers. Red roses, white carnations, yellow chrysanthemums, you name it, an anthophile will know it, and probably grow it in their own garden. Anthophilia is generally most common during February, on account of Valentine’s Day, but a true anthophile always has some flowers blooming in their backyard.
E.g. “Rose was allergic to the pollen in flowers, so sadly enough, she never could participate in all the pre-Valentine’s Day anthophilia.”
2) Arctophile – Someone who loves teddy bears; especially those who have an interest in collecting teddy bears. You have to admit, it’s hard to get any cuter than a teddy bear. Who doesn’t love a cuddly, non-threatening stuffed animal?
E.g. “I used to think teddy bears were rather silly, but after I went to a Build-A-Bear workshop, I became such an arctophile, I can hardly ‘bear’ it! Heh heh.”
3) Aurophilia – love of gold. Ooh, shiny. The one thing leprechauns and magpies share in common. Not to mention most of the human population, although we care a little less about the shine and a little more about the dollar signs.
E.g. “Gollum’s aurophilia led to his lifelong search for that gold ring he called ‘his precious,’ but he never did successfully get it back.”
4) Biblophilia – Love of books. Now, it may sound hard to believe, but there are some people who are in fact attracted to reading just for the sake of it. Although we may refer to them colloquially as ‘nerds’ or ‘bookworms’, the truth is, they are scientifically known as bibliophiles – people who love books.
E.g. “What’s wrong with Hermione? Why is her nose buried in that thick dusty thing?” “Oh, didn’t you hear? She has a case of bibliophilia, poor thing. She loves reading so much, she can’t put that thing down.”
5) Chorophilia – Love of dancing. There are hundreds of different dance styles out there – the salsa, the waltz, the robot, you name it. With so many options available, how can anyone resist the allure of chorophilia?
E.g. “See all those Orchesis girls? They’re all such chorophiles, they must go through about seven pairs of dance shoes every year.”
6) Cinephilia – Love of cinema and film. If you know and have watched every single Oscar-nominated movie for this year, or you spent Valentine’s Day at the mall watching Valentine’s Day, you just might be a cinephile. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. After all, movies were made to be watched, weren’t they? And who better to appreciate them than a cinephile?
E.g. “After watching Avatar 17 times in a row, Danny realized he might have a slight problem. He’s going to a therapist now to deal with his obsessive cinephilia.”
7) Erythrophilia – Love of the color red, or anything red. Ah, red. If you paid attention in sophomore English, you’d remember it as an archetypal symbol of passion and love. Or you could just take a look around you on Valentine’s Day, and figure it out for yourself. If you have erythrophilia, this must be your favorite time of the year.
E.g. “Wait! Don’t throw away that red tinfoil from your chocolate heart! Don’t you know there are plenty of people with erythrophilia out there who would treasure such a rarity?”
Francophile – An admirer of French culture. French toast, French fries, French bread, no wonder we love France! And after all, they say French is the language of romance…
E.g. “He is such a Francophile that he speaks nothing but French all the time. It was romantic at first, but now I can’t even understand him anymore!”
9) Philemophilia – Love of kissing. More common around Valentine’s Day than any other time, although it is seldom rare amongst teenagers. Enough said.
E.g. “I understand that all those couples in the hallway are suffering from acute philemophilia, but why must they be standing in my way all the time?”
10) Technophilia – Love of technology. For those of you who spend more time in front of a computer than with friends, technophilia should be a common term, especially in light of the current trend in cellphones, iPods, laptops and other nifty little portable electronic devices.
E.g. “Hi, my name is Dexter, and I suffer from technophilia. It all started back in middle school, when I first discovered Farmville…”
1) Anthophilia – Love of flowers. Red roses, white carnations, yellow chrysanthemums, you name it, an anthophile will know it, and probably grow it in their own garden. Anthophilia is generally most common during February, on account of Valentine’s Day, but a true anthophile always has some flowers blooming in their backyard.
E.g. “Rose was allergic to the pollen in flowers, so sadly enough, she never could participate in all the pre-Valentine’s Day anthophilia.”
2) Arctophile – Someone who loves teddy bears; especially those who have an interest in collecting teddy bears. You have to admit, it’s hard to get any cuter than a teddy bear. Who doesn’t love a cuddly, non-threatening stuffed animal?
E.g. “I used to think teddy bears were rather silly, but after I went to a Build-A-Bear workshop, I became such an arctophile, I can hardly ‘bear’ it! Heh heh.”
3) Aurophilia – love of gold. Ooh, shiny. The one thing leprechauns and magpies share in common. Not to mention most of the human population, although we care a little less about the shine and a little more about the dollar signs.
E.g. “Gollum’s aurophilia led to his lifelong search for that gold ring he called ‘his precious,’ but he never did successfully get it back.”
4) Biblophilia – Love of books. Now, it may sound hard to believe, but there are some people who are in fact attracted to reading just for the sake of it. Although we may refer to them colloquially as ‘nerds’ or ‘bookworms’, the truth is, they are scientifically known as bibliophiles – people who love books.
E.g. “What’s wrong with Hermione? Why is her nose buried in that thick dusty thing?” “Oh, didn’t you hear? She has a case of bibliophilia, poor thing. She loves reading so much, she can’t put that thing down.”
5) Chorophilia – Love of dancing. There are hundreds of different dance styles out there – the salsa, the waltz, the robot, you name it. With so many options available, how can anyone resist the allure of chorophilia?
E.g. “See all those Orchesis girls? They’re all such chorophiles, they must go through about seven pairs of dance shoes every year.”
6) Cinephilia – Love of cinema and film. If you know and have watched every single Oscar-nominated movie for this year, or you spent Valentine’s Day at the mall watching Valentine’s Day, you just might be a cinephile. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. After all, movies were made to be watched, weren’t they? And who better to appreciate them than a cinephile?
E.g. “After watching Avatar 17 times in a row, Danny realized he might have a slight problem. He’s going to a therapist now to deal with his obsessive cinephilia.”
7) Erythrophilia – Love of the color red, or anything red. Ah, red. If you paid attention in sophomore English, you’d remember it as an archetypal symbol of passion and love. Or you could just take a look around you on Valentine’s Day, and figure it out for yourself. If you have erythrophilia, this must be your favorite time of the year.
E.g. “Wait! Don’t throw away that red tinfoil from your chocolate heart! Don’t you know there are plenty of people with erythrophilia out there who would treasure such a rarity?”
Francophile – An admirer of French culture. French toast, French fries, French bread, no wonder we love France! And after all, they say French is the language of romance…E.g. “He is such a Francophile that he speaks nothing but French all the time. It was romantic at first, but now I can’t even understand him anymore!”
9) Philemophilia – Love of kissing. More common around Valentine’s Day than any other time, although it is seldom rare amongst teenagers. Enough said.
E.g. “I understand that all those couples in the hallway are suffering from acute philemophilia, but why must they be standing in my way all the time?”
10) Technophilia – Love of technology. For those of you who spend more time in front of a computer than with friends, technophilia should be a common term, especially in light of the current trend in cellphones, iPods, laptops and other nifty little portable electronic devices.
E.g. “Hi, my name is Dexter, and I suffer from technophilia. It all started back in middle school, when I first discovered Farmville…”