…heck is “Logomanikos”?
So I had been thinking for awhile about what would be a good name for my blog – something original that captures who I am and the purpose for the blog. One idea that came to mind is “Word Freak.” Primarily, this is a reference to my love of the game Scrabble. It is the title of a wonderful book by Stefan Fatsis about the game and the community surrounding it. (Yes, there is a community that has formed around a board game. I’m on the fringes of it myself, and will probably write about it from time to time.) Word freak is a good general description of me. I’m fascinated by words. I like learning new ones and figuring out where words come from and how they are connected. I love figuring out exactly the right words to communicate what’s in my mind.
Of course Word Freak wouldn’t be original and might even get me in some sort of copyright trouble, but it led me to another idea. “The Word” is one of the names/titles of Jesus, notably in John 1. In Greek, of course, that’s logos. So I thought maybe “Word Freak” in Greek would express the notion that I’m an enthusiast of not just words in general, but The Word in particular. Remember the DC Talk song “Jesus Freak” from the early 90’s? I thought “word freak” in Greek would be a clever rendition of that concept. The term could also be a reference to Scripture. I’m a little circumspect about calling the Bible “The Word,” but studying that particular collection of Greek words has been an important part of my life. When I eventually follow the call into seminary, it will become even more so. Thus: a freak for words as a hobby, a freak for The Word as a primary relationship, a freak for God’s words in Greek as a vocation…it all ties together nicely. Now I just needed a translation. A little superficial research on the Internet yielded a few possibilities that weren’t quite right:
Logos Fanaticos: “word fanatic” – but I’m more than just a fan, and besides, that sounds like something from Wile E. Coyote
Logos Teras: “word monster” – has a bit of a feral ring
Logos Erastis: “word lover” – as in ‘erotic’ love, technically not as creepy as it sounds, but definitely not the connotation I was looking for
Fortunately, my good friend Rob is a Classical Greek scholar who just finished his PhD at Princeton and is now a professor at Bowdoin college. He evaluated my ideas and suggested another that better described the ideas I was trying to get across (plus apparently added correct Greek concatenation). And so, Logomanikos was born. Think of our English word manic – “extremely energetic, active and excited.” Please ignore the connotation of psychological illness. I think the word is Rob’s creation, but neither of us has copyrighted it, so feel free to use it yourself. Can one own a word? That could be a good blog topic sometime…
Anyway, please enjoy all the logos on this site. I hope they make you smile and think. And for heavens sake, please add some of your own!
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