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Is there a word in the language for "an obsessive desire of reading others' mails?" I am badly in need of an elegant word of insult - or a word of elegant insult.
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Welcome raju.
I can't help you with your word. The only thing that comes to mind is "rude." Inelegant, but apt.
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Nosy, prying,snoopy,inquisitive.
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Is there a word in the language for "an obsessive desire of reading others' mails?"How about an Epistleprytarian? That's someone who suffers from "epistlepryitis". 
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Not sure about that one. It is hard to say elegantly.
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Not sure about that one. It is hard to say elegantly.
Fair comment, BelM.
Raj did say he wanted an "elegant insult".
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raju, is it something you want to say, or something you want to write. That might make a difference.
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Raju, are you suffering at the hands of someone with this problem? If so this short story by Saki may give you some hints on how to deal with the problem: http://homepage.ntlworld.com/doklands/Clovis/ShockTactics.htmlBingley
Bingley
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Pooh-Bah
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>>is it something you want to say, or something you want to write?<<
If to write, you might consider sending it to yourself in a letter...
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Bingley, thanks so much for sharing that link. what a delight! cheered me right up! and welcome, raju!
formerly known as etaoin...
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Note to Rikki: Send note to self to remind yourself to send a note to yourself.
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>If to write, you might consider sending it to yourself in a letter... Thanks for inserting a Steely Dan earworm into my cranium, IP.
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maybe a little D-Con Blue will get rid of that earworm...
formerly known as etaoin...
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Etaoin, you can always rely on Saki to do that for you. I hope you found your way to the other Clovis stories on that site -- and that you have a couple of hours to spare.  Bingley
Bingley
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the other Clovis storiesoh yes, I've read several already!
formerly known as etaoin...
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Pooh-Bah
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Thanks for inserting a Steely Dan earworm into my cranium, IP.
I'm sure there's no problem, Ricky, but for heaven's sake don't lose that number ...
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epistlepredation
The act of preying on another's private correspondence;
"espitlepredator" - one who does this (also known as an espistlepeeper); also, "espistlepredatory"
Usuage:
"People who peep into other people's letters are peeping into other people's lives. It is a particularly pernicious invasion of personal privacy sometimes known as "espistlepredation".
Epistlepredators seldom go to jail, but they sometimes receive nasty letters addressed to other people designed to discourage their epistlepredatory practices."
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TEd
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Epistealth
Elegant, TEdRem.
I'm not sure if it's enuf of an insult, but it is certainly elegant.
I like it. Clean. Clear. Elegant. It certainly deserves to be part of the language in some application.
For instance, epistlestealth can begin by accident and end up in full-blown epistlepredation.
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If you like this sample of short stories of Saki, there are more at Julian Burnside's site: http://www.julianburnside.com/
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Re: epistlestealth ... and other new wordsP.S. to TEdRem: In my personal opinion [which is more or less the kiss of death around here, as we all know ], there ought to be some sort of committee made up by random selection, or at least with members rotating, to provide some kind of objective oversight and ultimate judgment about new words under discussion. The person who creates the challenge, in this case raju, should not be the ultimate judge because they are asking for community involvement and they should expect to hear the community judgment, whether or not they happen to agree with it. [In the end, they are free to use any word they like for their own personal purposes, of course.] The random selection, or rotating membership approach should help to break up the clusters of collegiality (at least temporarily) which inevitably form in a forum like AWAD. Anyone offering to participate in one of these 'challenge adjudication' committees should have to agree that they will attempt to offer honest, open and objective adjudications and judments, and they will not be bound by traditional loyalties or influenced by personal bias against anyone either proposing or participating in the challenge. In this way, an AWAD opinion [imprimatur] on a new word might actually come to have some legitimacy, credibility and influence in the real world.Another obvious, and cheerfully immediate benefit of this type of objective oversight: there would be less for a gnat to gnatter about.
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whoo! hold your horses!
grapho... you started to type with out your brain being in gear!
[mild rant]
you said;In my personal opinion [which is more or less the kiss of death around here, as we all know], there ought to be some sort of committee made up by random selection, or at least with members rotating, to provide some kind of objective oversight and ultimate judgment about new words under discussion.
Italics:
a committee? are you really suggesting a committee for something as important as our language? good grief, you should hung, shot, drawn and quartered for making that suggestion!
Bold:
made up of random selection? what do you think this whole internet thing is? Raju is new, and so i Jomama, and the Rev. Ali, Deborah James, to name a few, and many other new names have popped up in the past few weeks. and some old, but seldom seen names are making an appearence (Hi Nancy!) -- this place is random. there are lurkers, like nancy, (who delurks every once in awhile to to let us know she is still lurking!) who pop in with a comment every once in a while, and new members, who join, because of article, or a friend, or what ever. sure, you can count on me, and jackie, and others to regularly comment, but god knows, jackie and i are often chalk and cheese.. we like each other, but often have very different ideas about what is right, or good, or proper.. and there are thread that bore me, and i just don't do much but glance at them.. so even being a regular doesn't mean i --or anyone else is going to weigh in with an opinion for sure. and IMPersonalO, i don't think anyones opinion is more important or less important... i can (and have!) made some bloopers, and come up with some dumb ideas. and sure as god made little green apples, i don't think your opinion is 'the kiss of death'-nor do i think it has anymore value than mine!
The person who creates the challenge, in this case raju, should not be the ultimate judge because they are asking for community involvement and they should expect to hear the community judgment, whether or not they happen to like it. [In the end, they are free to use any word they like for their own personal purposes, of course.]
Italics:
Excuse me, but i shouldn't be the ultimate judge of the best word for me to use? then who should be? YOU? Ha, over my dead body. i am a strong supporter of the US bill of rights, and you might not be a US citizen, but I am, and i have the right to free speach. I get to decide (for better or worse) the words i use.. some times that includes the standard 4 letters words, sometimes, it included more high fulooting words, but i don't think you are going to get many to agree, someone else should judge the best word! We all decide for our selves, and in the end, this board decides nothing. words live and die of their own accord.. we can nurture a few, but they must be able to survive on their own. all the cute words my kids made up are worth nothing, unless, everyone, --or at least a large portion--of the english speaking world hears them, likes them too, and adopts them for their own personal use.
The random selection, or rotating membership approach should help to break up the clusters of collegiality (at least temporarily) which inevitably form in a forum like AWAD.
Huh? there are always new members, and sometimes, members, leave and sometimes, their leaving is call to action, and to changed behavior. sometimes new members stay, and by staying they change this place. but to forcible, in effect silences members (simple because they have too much time on there hands, and post here very often!) is not the best way to run this place or any place!
goodness knows, if we placed limits on the number of post a person could post in a hour, day, week, month or year, you might well be one to reach the limit earlier rather than later than most!
we could just change our names, and post under various names, i could use up my quota as of troy, and come back queen of the F'in universe, but three or four typo's into a post, a few to many elipsis, ... or one to many of course's, and everyone would know exactly who the queen was!
what purpose would it serve?
ok, rant over!
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Well, I guess that's that, de Troy. It is a pretty revolutionary concept. I never thought it would go over [well or at all] anyway. Just a gnat
Talking thru his hat
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Dear queen of the F'in universe, you go girl! I'm in agreement with what you wrote, although I've reset my display preferences so I can filter out the noise.
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Dear queen of the F'in universe, you go girl! ... I've reset my display preferences so I can filter out the noise.
I'm sorry you will be filtering out the good news that Grapho is finally leaving, AnnaS.
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Dear raju : Welcome to the Board. Hope you will stay with us and that you have mined some nuggets of gold among the ore of these forums. Many opinions, many observations, the odd rant now and then, I am not guiltless in that regard general good spirited raillery, some wonderful puns, and all while keeping in mind the courtesy due all persons.
In other words, an odd lot!
It's a grand place to visit - and perhaps even to live!
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what-- i don't understand... you said--
Well, I guess that's that, de Troy.
It is a pretty revolutionary concept.
I never thought it would go over [well or at all] anyway.
what's a revolutionary concept?
surely you don't think a committee is! you are one or two standard deviation from the mean, (as am i,) but i don't think you are crazy! you'd have be crazy to think a committee is an improvement to anything!
or do you think the idea of a benevolent dictatorship is a revolutionary concept..
(i have a problems with the oxymoron of benevolent dictatorship-- but that is my problem.)..
well i suppose it would take a revolution here to set up a benovent dictatorship..
Have you applied to Anu and asked him to set you up as dictator? i don't think he would, but you don't know till you have tried!
but i hope you don't expect me, (and many others, if not everyone else here!) to appoint you as dictator!
1--we really don't have the power to do that, (seeing as how we don't own the site, or the software, or have access to the server...and all those other silly details)
and 2- Why the hell would we want to set up you as our dictator.. after all i am here!
well, maybe i'll agree to it, as my dying wish, after i have served as dictator for the rest of my natural life.
It's only natural, if there is to be a head honcho here, it should be me!
id you are in favor of dictatorship (and censorship, too, which goes hand in hand!) i know you'll support my efforts to be the first dictator! --my first act would be to dictate.. and make some body else (with better spelling skills), type! no more misspelled words, or typo's.. or off with their heads!)
needless to say, we'd only discuss things i like, and since i don't play hogwash, that would go away, and. ... i am sure i can think of lots of ways to improve awad, and make it my personal fifedom. of course, anu can continue to pay for it... after all, i should get to run things, and make up all the rules, but i don't want to have any expenses!
i know i could make awad perfect, or at least perfectly to my liking...
-----------------
ok, ok, i am going overboard.. but you got to remember, i am, in my dreams, QotFU!
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Re: You go girl! "I'm sorry you will be filtering out the good news that Grapho is finally leaving, AnnaS."Splat! This gnat has finally gone "Splat!"
You can take take all the credit for that
I have ducked quite a few
Of the "swats" that you threw
But it's your "hiss" which is lethal to gnats.
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Thanks for the warm welcome. And for the word and the link. This encouragement will, hopefully, transform me from a "linguature" to...well...a better linguature.
I like epistlepryitis - it sounds great but it is a kind of miscegenation, of Greek and English. I'll use it for the time being but continue the quest for something more congruous.
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old hand
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Bingley
I love Saki, and if the link points to the story I think it is, it's a classic. Thanks for reminding me - must go home and delve into my complete H H Munro yet again. "Sredni Vashtar", of course, IMO his best work.
cheer
the sunshine warrior
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Oh dear, it's so difficult to decide which is the best. Depends on my mood as much as anything. But I would particularly recommend: Esme, Adrian, The Secret Sin of Septimius Brope, Reginald on House Parties, and Gabriel-Ernest.
Bingley
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Raju, I remembered Onelook's resource when I re-read your opening post this morning. Not wanting to make another 100+ line post, I've eliminated all the ones I know aren't it. If you want the whole list, go to http://www.onelook.com/?w=*&loc=revfp2&clue=obsessive+desire+of+reading+others'+mailsWords and phrases matching your pattern: (We're restricting the list to terms we think are related to obsessive desire of reading others' mails, and sorting by relatedness.) 5. fetish 6. phaneromania 7. bibliomania 8. ricky gervais 9. egomania 19. trichotillomania 23. ahnentafel 24. rabbenu gershom 33. mythoclast 34. circumpunct 35. metaphysics of presence 36. dean kamen 37. crapflooding 38. onomastic 39. florence foster jenkins 40. voyeur 41. peter handke 67. echopraxia 69. voyeurism 70. confelicitous 71. eavesdrop 73. epicaricacy 74. grinch 78. arithmomania 79. bugbear 80. coprolalia 82. ethnomania 83. micromanage 84. neurosis 85. obsess 86. oikofugic 87. quantophrenia 92. mail fraud
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But it's Saki to me. SPLASH!
TEd
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Did you say "sock it to me?"
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stranger
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Thanks Jackie - for acquainting me with onelook's prowesses.
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You're very welcome, raju--we both owe it to tsuwm. By the way, I'm glad you're here.
Even more by the way, we have had several new people come aBoard recently (yay!). Has there been another article somewhere about A.W.A.D.?
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Pooh-Bah
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I believe the Australians have a word - 'stickybeak'.
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stranger
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It's a nice word dxb, but I believe being a stickybeak is a superclass of being interested in other's mails. Maybe an epistlepryitis is just an amatuer(or focussed!) stickybeak.
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