wordie

English

Etymology

From word +‎ -ie; the enthusiast sense is parallel in nature with foodie and was probably influenced by it.

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈwɝdi/
• Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)di
• Homophone: wordy

Noun

wordie (plural wordies)

1. diminutive of word
2. (informal) Someone interested in words; especially, one enthusiastic about the study of word use but not bent on being pedantic about usage prescription.

   Synonyms: word-lover, logophile, lexophile

   Hypernym: linguaphile

   Coordinate terms: grammar police, grammar cop, grammando, grammar Nazi

   • 2024, Anne Curzan, Says Who?: A Kinder, Funner Usage Guide for Everyone Who Cares About Words, Crown, →ISBN, page viii-ix:

     you probably have an inner grammando […] One who constantly corrects others’ linguistic mistakes. […] There’s another new word—wordie—that captures the alternative to being a grammando. Added to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary in 2018, wordie describes someone who delights in language’s shifting landscape. Wordies know the language rules and where they come from, and then they make informed calls about whether or not to follow the rule in a given context. […] you almost certainly have an inner wordie who lives alongside your inner grammando. Welcome to my world! When I notice a new species in the language out in the wild (metaphorically speaking) and have an urge to stamp it out—that’s my inner grammando talking. When I delight in learning from young people about the rules of texting and new slang, my inner wordie has the upper hand. We all have our language peeves—those bits of language that grate on our nerves and that make us want to pull out a red pen while reading or stop someone midsentence to go grammando on them. (Yes, them—see chapter 18 for an explanation of how they can be singular.) And the question at any one of these peevey moments is whether to let our inner grammando say anything or let our inner wordie carry the day.

Anagrams

• rowdie, weirdo