On the eventful late evening of the 24th Day in the fifth month of Circa 2011, I turned a lexicographer.
I coined the word Foodophile and submitted the entry to Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionary.
Merriam-Webster - An Encyclopaedia Brittanica Company - has been a dictionary of repute and has ranked amongst the top referral sources for readers worldwide. Hence to get my word included in its online pages seemed like a highly motivating feat that emboldened me to get into more word coinage as I trundle along my moments in a day and days in my life.
But first a formal introduction to you with "FOODOPHILE" and how it appears on Merriam-Webster. It appears under "FOOD" in the 'New Words & Slang' section of The Open Dictionary of Merriam-Webster's online edition. This is how it is showcased -
foodophile (noun): a person who has a great fondness for food: an ardent food lover
"She is such a foodophile that most of her life is devoted to thinking about food - how it tastes, how it looks, how it smells."
Submitted by: L. Aruna Dhir from India on May. 24, 2011 09:45
Here's the link to corroborate my claim to fame -
Foodophile entry on Merriam Webster
"Foodophile" has, since, also debuted on Macmillan Dictionary, Urban Dictionary, in the User pages of Wikipedia, Wiktionary, Definition-Of - Community Dictionary by Farlex and Pseudodictionary. Please find the links below for each of these references -
Foodophile entry on Macmillan Dictionary
L. Aruna Dhir on Wikipedia
Foodophile on Wiktionary
Foodophile on DEFINITION-OF, community dictionary by FARLEX
Foodophile on Pseudodictionary
With this kind of encouragement, it is time now to create a brand new term, especially because there is that vacuum in our lexicon that this word can admirably fill.
So, here's unveiling - FOODIEPAEDIA.
Amongst the deafening sounds of trumpets in my head, let me announce that "Foodiepaedia" is a portmanteau of two words - Foodie and Encyclopaedia. This emphasizes the etymology of the term.
Dictionaries define Foodie as "a person keenly interested in food, especially in eating or cooking." According to Wikipedia - Foodie is an informal term for a particular class of aficionado of food and drink. The word was coined in 1981 by Paul Levy and Ann Barr, who used it in the title of their 1984 book The Official Foodie Handbook.
And now we have the more formal word "foodophile" to describe an ardent food lover.
An encyclopaedia is defined as "a book or set of books containing articles on various topics, usually in alphabetical arrangement, covering all branches of knowledge or, less commonly, all aspects of one subject."
Hence, Foodiepaedia is coined as a "noun" and stands for a Foodie / Foodophile or Food lover's Encyclopaedia holding within its fold a treasure trove of information on the subject of food, be it the origin, history, etymology, facts, trivia, tips, recipes and pictures of food, presented in an alphabetical order.
And to be Foodiepaedia, the tome needs to give all this information and more, bound and limited only by all that is available, searchable and known; as beyond these realms the writer/researcher cannot go.
It needs to be as exhaustive as possible and as well researched as it can be, in order for the book to be elevated to the status of Foodiepaedia.
It is a collective of thematic information on the chosen subject of food and aspires to become as wide and deep in its richness as it is possible at the time with the propensity to be revised with newly added information as and when such information comes up in context.
It needs to be as exhaustive as possible and as well researched as it can be, in order for the book to be elevated to the status of Foodiepaedia.
It is a collective of thematic information on the chosen subject of food and aspires to become as wide and deep in its richness as it is possible at the time with the propensity to be revised with newly added information as and when such information comes up in context.
Here's an example of the usage of the word -
1. Larousse Gastronomique - that age-old culinary bible - is a highly respected Foodiepaedia and provides rich information on food for use by a Foodophile.
2. Alan Davidson's Oxford Companion to Food is a definitive Foodiepaedia that must always enjoy a pride of place on a Foodophile's bookshelf.
3. "The Cheese Lover's Companion - The Ultimate A to Z Cheese Guide by Sharon Tyler Herbst and Ron Herbst is an excellent Foodiepaedia on Cheese and is a wonderful resource on the subject."
I hope the coinage of these two interesting terms - Foodophile and Foodiepaedia adds more colour and character to our usage of the English Language and helps us become more lucid and interesting in our writing and speech.
Foodiepaedia entry on Merriam Webster
Pictures courtesy - www.deviantart.com and Google Images
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