Grammar 101: Workaholics and Other ‘Holics
August 31st, 2010 by Michael Kwan
Basically, workaholic is a portmanteau, combining the words “work” and “alcoholic” to mean someone who is addicted to working. Even if the work itself no longer provides the same kind of satisfaction or pleasure that it may have provided in the past, the person persists and works well into the night. This is not unlike the phenomenon experienced by alcoholics.
However, the coining of the term “workaholic” is inaccurate. The “holic” portion of “alcoholic” does not indicate an addiction. There is also no such thing as “workahol,” so to speak, so the combination doesn’t work for that reason either. Other -holics have been coined over the years too, like footballholic and chocoholic.
Does that mean that you should avoid using the term “workaholic” altogether?
No, not necessarily. While it really bugs me when people say “PIN number” or utter other errors, “workaholic” has become an accepted word in today’s society and it is used so widely that the incorrectness of its origin no longer matters.
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Tags: grammar, grammar tips, writing style
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You seem to be a fan of portmanteaus. You should have a contest where people suggest a portmanteau that’s made up but sounds real. That’d be fun.
I’ve never heard someone being referred to as ‘footballholic’ but ‘shopaholic’ is quite commonly used here, considering one of our national pastime is shopping!
Sometimes, things don’t have to make perfect literal sense in order to make sense. You just “get it.” So, the combination of work and alcoholic as workaholic was something people could understand. Perhaps it was more “cute” than technically correct, but people understood the meaning.
Once that took off, other words made sense too. So, even if “-holic” had no original inherent meaning insofar as addition is concerned, it has, over time, taken on such a meaning.
So, as you say, you no longer really matters.
Of course, I might argue the same for PIN number.
That is really funny, I never thought about it that way. It really bugs me too when people say PIN number its redundant.
Wish I was a bit more workaholic