spermologer

[kiss_ero4k]

what does a spermologer study?

[GuavaHalf]

Have a guess.... No your wrong its not that. A spermologer is a collector of trivial infromation. No idea how the word derives.

[Quizmonster]

It's from the Greek for 'seed-gatherer'...hence, the sperm connection. It is used figuratively to suggest the gathering of news or other passing or trivial information.

[verbiphobe]

Not in the OED. Only two online dictionaries have it, and both define it as a collector of seeds. I have never heard it used figuratively or literally. What's your reference please QM?

[Quizmonster]

Dear Verb, I'm often puzzled when people here on AB refer to (quote) "the OED". (Only the other day, there was a similar point raised in the 'Phrases' category concerning the word 'faffing' qv.) There are, of course, several varieties of Oxford Dictionary...shorters, concises, pockets and so on. However, only one of them is actually called 'The Oxford English Dictionary'. In its original format, this is a multi-volume publication which fills an entire shelf in most reference libraries. It is recognised as the horse's mouth, the word-bible as far as English is concerned.

All I can say is that 'spermologer' is in the OED. Cheers.

[verbiphobe]

Point taken. I'm using the 1987 edition of the Australian concise Oxford because I'm too cheap to buy a newer one. I can access 43 dictionaries online, but they are also obviously lacking. Thanks QM.

[Quizmonster]

Dear Verb, the OED is available online, too, but only if you are prepared to pay a fairly substantial annual fee. Alternatively, I believe one can now buy it on CD, but that won't be cheap either, I daresay.

The point really is that every other dictionary is but a pale shadow of the 'real' thing. Cheers