Fear and Loathing

Fear

Tell me, what fears thee? Anything? Nothing?

In truth, thou needn't say, for I don't wish to talk anent fears, only their names. If thou has a fear, I dare say thou knows a name for it. It may be that thou fears the outdoors, for which the name is agoraphobia, from the Greek agora meaning 'open ground' and phobia meaning 'fear'. There are many words like this: arachnophobia is fear of spiders, achluophobia is fear of the night, and amathophobia is fear of dust. These are only the As, there is over five hundred such words at The Phobia List.

But what is the word if one fears cats? (No laughing!)

Some may know what the word for this is, for they may fear cats, others may have looked at the above webstead. But I dare say that most will not know this word is ailurophobia. Now thou knows, if thou ever meets someone who fears cats, thou can tell them that the proper name for their fear is ailurophobia.

Hold on! Did I say the 'proper' word is ailurophobia? That is, did I say the 'proper' word for something in English is a Greek word?

Sadly, yes. Those who have learnt mindlore (and name most of these new fears), like most healers and loremen, hold Greek and Latin dear and love to give long and odd names to the things they speak of. This is to give their speech a 'learned' ring, but it doesn't wash with me. Let's work to find an English name.

So what would it be? Hmm...If I have a fear of cats, then I fear cats. Therefore, I am a catfearer, and I have catfear. Maybe this is an odd word, but it is English, and the meaning can be understood without foreknowledge. And, what is more, anyone who speaks English can make a new word for their fear without knowing Greek.

Bring on goatfear, nightfear, dirtfear, waterfear and spiderfear!

Loathing

It makes me glad to have swapped an outland word for an English one with the same meaning.

But hold on again! Ailurophobia may mean catfear, but catfear does not mean ailurophobia. The wordbook gives it as 'a fear or hatred of cats'. So the two words don't have the same meaning, I've missed a bit.

What word can I have for hatred of cats? Working along the same lines that gave catfear, now gives cathate. An even better word, which is already found in some English writings.

I think having two words is better than one, for ailurophobia has two meanings, and before, one could well not know which was meant. With two words, the meanings are stark, and not at all blent. (Let no one dare say that fear and hate are the same thing!)

Maybe I can go further.

Worship

Nobody worships cats do they? Likely not. Even those old women who have gathered fifty or more in their homes don't worship them. But some folks did, many years ago, namely the Egyptians, who thought of them as gods. (I know some owners would say their cat yet thinks of itself as a god.)

I can't find the Greek word anywhere, but it ought to end with -latry from latreia meaning 'worship'. Therefore the word is something like ailurolatry, but I could be wrong (like I care).

The English word is catworship, which may seem rather worthless, but bear in mind that we only need the ending. Words like treeworship, sunworship, moonworship, earthworship and starworship, are more worthwhile.

Love

Now, we all love cats, don't we? Indeed we do, and we already have a word for it: ailurophilia, with its ending from the Greek philos meaninf 'loving'. But who says this word? Nobody.

Already English has won this fight, and there are many folk calling themselves catlovers. The right word for ailurophilia must therefore be catlove.

But many other philia words are out there and need be swapped with an English word. Think of wordlove for logophilia, Scotlandlove for Scotophilia, and cheeselove for turophilia.

With the four new endings -fear, -hate, -worship and -love, an English speaker could make hundreds (if not over a thousand) new words. And, what is more, know what each one of them means when someone says it. Is this not good for English speakers? and the English tongue?

Can we go yet further?

Lust

Hmm...I think I will leave thee with the word catlust, and say no more!