A dictionary stirred up a controversial topic: Is sapiosexuality a legitimate sexual preference, or should it be relegated to the likes of lumbersexual?
It all started with a tweet:
Is it time to add 'sapiosexual' to the dictionary? https://t.co/PL1asS3BMD
— Merriam-Webster (@MerriamWebster) November 28, 2016
On their blog, Merriam-Webster states that “sapiosexual” means to be “sexually attracted to highly intelligent people.” They may not have an official entry for it yet, but they offer this etymology of the word:
Sapiosexual is a hybrid word—that is, a word made up of parts of other words, typically from Latin or Greek. Often these words are recent coinages despite their Classical lineage. Sapio- comes from the Latin verb sapere, meaning “to be wise” or “to have sense.” It is also the root of such English words as sage, savant, savvy, and, most transparently, sapient, a fancy word for “wise.” It’s visible as well in the common Latin name for the human species, Homo sapiens.
But not everyone is as unbiased about this neologism as Merriam-Webster seems to be. “Pretentious Is Not A Sexual Orientation,” the Daily Beast asserted last year, when this word was having another moment:
We don’t need a special word—especially one modeled after minority identity labels like “homosexual” and “bisexual”—to describe a completely normative facet of human attraction. In the modern world, identifying as sapiosexual has about as much semantic utility as claiming that you are kind-sexual, dependable-sexual, or rich-sexual.
And the responses to Merriam-Webster’s blog post tweet are divided but mostly cutting, but totally amusing.
imagine getting regularly macked on by jackasses who think they're sherlock
— Arlette (@arletterocks) November 29, 2016
.@MerriamWebster "sapiosexual" is Latin for "humblebrag".
— Jesse Sheidlower (@jessesheidlower) November 28, 2016
https://twitter.com/inurashii/status/803247874330894336
Some think the question is legitimate and the word deserves a spot in the dictionary.
https://twitter.com/AnaMardoll/status/730113017828904960
https://twitter.com/gulfcoaststudio/status/803392367462117376
It’s a controversial word, but it’s not worse than the dictionary’s top-searched word of 2016:
‘Fascism’ is still our #1 lookup.
# of lookups = how we choose our Word of the Year.
There’s still time to look something else up.
— Merriam-Webster (@MerriamWebster) November 29, 2016
What do you think? Is it time to add “sapiosexual” or should it go straight to the cutting floor?
[poll id=”14″]
Lifestyle and Entertainment with sides of cannabis, hot-mess, musicians, comedians and medical information. Want more? Check out “No Giving Tuesday Here: Is Your City Trying To Make Feeding The Homeless Illegal?” “Mood Mapping: New App Recommends Food Based On Your Emotions,” “It Possible To Be Physically Addicted To Marijuana?“
