File Away These Philes

So we’ve heard about the “philes” that get you arrested like pedo and necro, the ones that get you shanked in prison. But the phile prefix really just means love. If you love something, why not declare it with a word that most people have never heard of?

Let’s start with “logophile” as it is our blog name and really should be explained. This is for lovers of words. This will generally line up with those philobiblists out there, but keep in mind that loving “words” and loving “books” are two completely separate things.

Now most people around here can be called actophiles. Some of you may be gearing to break away from the west coast and try your luck with mountains and this strange thing called “winter,” but for those of you with sand in your hair and bathing suit tan lines, this is the word for you. Maybe you can personalize a towel with it.

Now, for those caught in the timeless battle of pets, proud dog owners are called canophiles. Made of canine and phile, real clever dog lovers. Now, the much more fun “ailurophile” is for those with feline friends which comes from the lesser known Greek ailuros. Now as I understand, Greeks lean more towards bunnies for pets but apparently the Egyptian mauphile was just too cute to be.

Now, for those pyromaniacs out there, here comes a new label, “cumyxaphile,” which is much more fun, a Scrabble winner and comments on an excessive ownership of matchbooks. If you want to stick with the more direct route you can use the synonym “phillumenist” but risk being confused for a magician (not a bad switch up, if you ask me).