The Japanese word for people who own more books than they can read
Book lovers and hoarders – it’s a bad combination. At least, it was – but we’ve stumbled upon a Japanese word that makes us book hoarders feel a little less guilty.
The practice is so widespread that our friends in the Land of the Rising Sun have a little portmanteau to describe us – tsundoku, a combination of “tsunde” (“to stack things”), “oku” (“to leave for a while”) and doku (“to read”). All together, according to Oxford Dictionaries, it’s defined as, “the act of leaving a book unread after buying it, typically piling it up together with other such unread books.”
The word’s closest English relative would have to be “bibliomania”, a term coined in the 1800s to describe a fictional “neurosis” which causes sufferers to obsessively collect books. Sound familiar?
These are just two words we think deserve to enter the general lexicon, but as it turns out, there’s a whole lot more out there for us bookworms. Here are some of our favourites:
1. Colophon – The word might not sound familiar, but what it describes will. A “colophon” is the emblem or imprint found on the title page or spine of the book used by publishers to help build loyalty to their brand.
2. Biblotaph – A “biblotaph” is someone who buries their books – especially those the ones they admire – in order to protect them from “bibliolklepts” (book thieves).
3. Princeps – A “princeps” is simply a first edition or first printing of a book. Princeps can be exceedingly valuable – something as recent as the first Harry Potter novel may be worth tens of thousands of dollars.
4. Bibliognost – If a bookworm is someone who loves books, a bibliognost takes it one step further. Not only do they love books, but they seem to know everything about them.
5. Librocubicultarist – Do you like to read in book? You’re a librocubicultarist. The word comes from the Latin “liber,” meaning “book,” and cubiculum, meaning “sleeping chamber”.
6. Scripturient – This word has died out over the years, but it essentially means “author”. While the latter may be easier to day, “scripturient” sounds a lot fancier!
Are you guilty of “tsundoku”? How many unread books are still on your shelf? Let us know in the comment section below.