Page 1 of 1

AILUROPHILE

Posted: Fri Sep 30, 2005 11:43 pm
by Dr. Goodword
• ailurophile •

Pronunciation: ê-lur-ê-fayl • Hear it!

Part of Speech: Noun

Meaning: A cat-lover, a fancier of cats.

Notes: It is amazing that in a land of so many ailurophiles, today's Good Word is used so rarely. Cat-lover and cat-fancier are ambiguous and hence misleading. Today's word is precise and specific. If you don't like cats or are afraid of them, you are an ailurophobe. The adjective is ailurophilic and the love of cats is ailurophilia.

In Play: This Good Word refers specifically to cat cats, not loose or spiteful women, or cool jazz musicians. That doesn't mean we cannot use it playfully: "Well, I find her a bit catty and I'm not an ailurophile." Of course, dogs tend to be ailurophiles in the strictest sense. However, if you dog runs away from cats, he suffers from ailurophobia.

Word History: Today's Good Word first appeared in print around 1927. This means that a recent English-speaker connected Greek ailur-os "house cat" and phil-os "friendly, fond of" with an [o] and slipped it into English. Not much is known of the origin of ailuros but the compounding element phil- "love" was used widely by the Greeks, providing us a gold mine to borrow from. So, we have dendrophiles, the polite form for "tree-hugger", cheese-loving turophiles, wine-loving oenophiles, and many, many others. Of course, here in Pennsylvania we have Philadelphia, the city of brotherly love.
Image

Re: AILUROPHILE

Posted: Sat Oct 01, 2005 11:53 am
by Flaminius
Of course, here in Pennsylvania we have Philadelphia, the city of brotherly love.
OOoooh, that's what it means. I always wondered what Ptolemic sister-marrying king has to do with that city.

Flam, a decidedly ailurophilic anadelphe.

Posted: Sat Oct 01, 2005 11:58 am
by Brazilian dude
Does that mean you love cats and have no siblings?

Brazilian dude

Posted: Sat Oct 01, 2005 12:03 pm
by Flaminius
Yes. And a kynophobe I am.

Posted: Sat Oct 01, 2005 12:29 pm
by Brazilian dude
I'm not. I've always loved films. :lol:

Brazilian dude

Posted: Sat Oct 01, 2005 12:53 pm
by M. Henri Day
... And a kynophobe I am.
だって、ハチ子が好きでしょう ?...

Henri

Posted: Sat Oct 01, 2005 1:53 pm
by Brazilian dude
僕は犬が好き。全くの動物は僕が嫌い。

Brazilian dude

Posted: Sat Oct 01, 2005 2:06 pm
by M. Henri Day
... 全くの動物は僕が嫌い。
ちょっと分かりませんが, 如何言う動物が嫌いですか ?...

Henri

Posted: Sat Oct 01, 2005 2:18 pm
by Brazilian dude


Brazilian dude

Posted: Sat Oct 01, 2005 2:22 pm
by gailr
Alas, KatyBr, I fear we will not see you posting to this most ailuring thread... Image
-gailr

Posted: Sat Oct 01, 2005 2:52 pm
by M. Henri Day
Marie de Rabutin-Chantal, Marquise de Sévigné (1626 - 1696) was one of the central figures in the creation of the institution of the salon (not saloon !), which by some is thought to have been instrumental in the development of the Enlightenment. Thus, those comments with regard to chocolate have perhaps an import greater than that which is evident at first glance....

Henri

Posted: Sat Oct 01, 2005 3:37 pm
by KatyBr
Alas, KatyBr, I fear we will not see you posting to this most ailuring thread... Image
-gailr
What's there to reply to? most posts are just several little boxes....and oc there is my famous aversion to felines....

Kt

Posted: Sat Oct 01, 2005 8:19 pm
by gailr
"When I step into this library, I cannot understand why I ever step out of it."
Thanks, Henri. And what is she pointing to in all those variations on the same portrait? She is telling her cat to get down from the chocolates.
-gailr

Posted: Sat Oct 01, 2005 9:46 pm
by Stargzer
The converse is:
The Bird Lover

Keep you cat inside your house,
And I'll stroke his fur and give him a mouse,
But let him loose on my feeding birds
And I'll beat out of him whey and curds.
If into an ornithophile you probe
You'll rouse the sleeping aelurophobe.

Ogden Nash, The Old Dog Barks Backwards

Posted: Sun Oct 02, 2005 4:21 pm
by M. Henri Day
Dinosaurs and mammals - they're still at it (but watch out for that extra «d» on «an» !...

Henri

PS : Gailr, I found that painting so attractive, I was unable to keep from attempting to reproduce it. Your interpretation of the pointing finger may very well be correct, but one wonders then why her head is turned away ; to me it is more like she's saying to some one else, «Look what that bloody cat is doing now on my fine chocolates !» In that case, I do hope that the Marquise de Sévigné, in addition to her literary talents, was good at distinguishing chocolates from cat....

Image