# What **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [February 18, 2003, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what/155819 "2003-02-18T05:22:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![prisoner6655321](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5f8ce5/32.png) [@prisoner6655321](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/prisoner6655321)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2003, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what/155819/1 "2003-02-18T05:22:35Z")
Why do they call addicts ‘AHOL’ ics? Alcoholic comes from ALCOHOL. Remove “alcohol” and you get IC. JUST IC. **JUST IC, JUST IC!**NOT AHOL-ic, (which by the way is a misspelling. It should be OHOL-ic.) If I am addicted to salt, I’m a SALTIC, not a saltAHOLIC. If I’m addicted to sex then I’m a sexic, not a sexAHOLIC. And I’m not a rageAHOLIC, I’m a**ragIC.** Of course I realize that my “new” phrases sounds really stupid, but chocaholic is stupid too. What, are you addicted to chocolate, but only chocolate smotherd in alcohol? I’m sure some people could be, but seriously, where does the “AHOL” come from. Is there some latin word I am missing. And please don’t call me an “A hol” I know. I know. ---
**Author:** ![prisoner6655321](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5f8ce5/32.png) [@prisoner6655321](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/prisoner6655321)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2003, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what/155819/2 "2003-02-18T05:27:12Z")
Stupid keyboard! I hit enter as I was putting the title in. NOW Straightdope works fast! Stupid Universe ---
**Author:** ![Brutus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@Brutus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brutus)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2003, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what/155819/3 "2003-02-18T05:32:32Z")
Preach on, brother. ---
**Author:** ![samarm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4da419/32.png) [@samarm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samarm)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2003, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what/155819/4 "2003-02-18T05:34:57Z")
“Aholic” actually was taken from the term “alcoholic”. Before that, it didn’t exist. Dictionary definition: \*-aholic - abstracted from alcoholic first for workaholic (1968). Subsequent formations include chocoholic, first attested 1976, and shopaholic (1984). \* also, from Making Sense of Neologisms (by Isabel Verdaguar): > [@](#): > > If alcoholic is familiar, then other words formed on the same pattern, such as workaholic or shopaholic , are also comprehensible. ---
**Author:** ![Reeder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Reeder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reeder)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2003, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what/155819/5 "2003-02-18T05:36:25Z")
Can someone explain this rant to me? Have I been officially whoooshed? Aholic? ---
**Author:** ![samarm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4da419/32.png) [@samarm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samarm)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2003, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what/155819/6 "2003-02-18T05:38:53Z")
He’s saying that “alcoholic” derives from “alcohol” + “ic”. He argues that if you only need to add an “ic” to make it mean “addicted to”, then why add “aholic” instead, in the case of chocaholic, etc. However, I have debunked that theory in my post, above. ---
**Author:** ![prisoner6655321](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5f8ce5/32.png) [@prisoner6655321](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/prisoner6655321)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2003, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what/155819/7 "2003-02-18T05:46:58Z")
How did you debunk my theory? You seem to be supporting my argument. > [@](#): > > “Aholic” actually was taken from the term “alcoholic”. Before that, it didn’t exist. You might have debunked my misspelling remark (A Holic = Alcohol +holic), but it sounds like you are on my side abut the main argument. ---
**Author:** ![samarm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4da419/32.png) [@samarm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samarm)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2003, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what/155819/8 "2003-02-18T05:51:18Z")
My point is, “ic” is no more valid that “aholic”. The bit of the word “alcoholic” that is used is the “aholic” part. This has then been appended to the end of other words, such as choc or shop, to mean an addiction to something. The reason for “aholic” being used is that it derives directly from “alcoholic”. Hope this is clearer. I’m getting confused myself, now. ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2003, 5:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what/155819/9 "2003-02-18T05:53:44Z")
You know, this happens all the time. For example, the ending -rama was taken from the word “panorama”, which comes from pan, “all,” and horama, “view.” It doesn’t conform to the morpheme boundaries either, but nobody’s died of it yet. ---
**Author:** ![Will\_Repair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a698b9/32.png) [@Will\_Repair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Will_Repair)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2003, 5:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what/155819/10 "2003-02-18T05:57:09Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by prisoner6655321 \* > \*\*where does the “AHOL” come from. \*\* Aholgate ---
**Author:** ![samarm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4da419/32.png) [@samarm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samarm)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2003, 5:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what/155819/11 "2003-02-18T05:57:40Z")
So, in conclusion: Lame rant! Hey, sorry prisoner, I know your heart was in it but it just didn’t hit the spot for me. No mention of goat fucking, either… tsk. ---
**Author:** ![Mac\_Guffin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/2bfe46/32.png) [@Mac\_Guffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mac_Guffin)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2003, 6:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what/155819/12 "2003-02-18T06:57:33Z")
Wants me some Chocahol. Sounds nummy. Same goes with the Sexahol. I think I will avoid the Workahol tho. Sounds too tiring. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2003, 7:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what/155819/13 "2003-02-18T07:30:12Z")
[Homer] I’m a rage-aholic! I’m addicted to rage-ahol! [/Homer] ---
**Author:** ![Mockingbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c68b51/32.png) [@Mockingbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mockingbird)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2003, 8:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what/155819/14 "2003-02-18T08:42:55Z")
And the OP was moronic. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2003, 8:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what/155819/15 "2003-02-18T08:46:31Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by prisoner6655321 \* > \*\*chocaholic is stupid too. What, are you addicted to chocolate, but only chocolate smotherd in alcohol? \*\* No, it means you’re addicted to chocolate with an extra -OH group. \ Oh, who am I kidding? I’ll never be able to close that tag. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2003, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what/155819/16 "2003-02-18T15:18:54Z")
So, somebody who’s addicted to music is musicic? ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2003, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what/155819/17 "2003-02-18T16:14:22Z")
If you’re going to rant against “-aholic,” it seems to me you have to rant against the suffix “-gate” to mean a scandal, and “-burger” to mean a sandwich, cause weren’t they formed pretty much the same way? ---
**Author:** ![tunabreath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/838e76/32.png) [@tunabreath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tunabreath)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2003, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what/155819/18 "2003-02-18T23:26:20Z")
I thought -ic had meaning, like having to do with something in an extreme way. Frantic and fanatic are extremely frenzied or extreme fans perhaps? I like it. Artic! Land for extreme art! Antarctica is the misspeled land for the extreme anti-art. You don’t wan’t Baltic though. You need a hot poker and some tweezers or needle nose pliers or hemostats or even an exacto-knife to deal with those nasty buggers. I know. ---
**Author:** ![CanvasShoes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/74df32/32.png) [@CanvasShoes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CanvasShoes)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2003, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what/155819/19 "2003-02-18T23:39:49Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Thudlow Boink \* > \*\*If you’re going to rant against “-aholic,” it seems to me you have to rant against the suffix “-gate” to mean a scandal, and “-burger” to mean a sandwich, cause weren’t they formed pretty much the same way? \*\* Ummm…this rant seems to be saying “hey! this particular slang stands out amongst all the other slang our fellow Americans use, and is unacceptable”! Aholic, or oholic if you prefer, is basically a slang term that passed into common usage and as someone else in this thread explained (better than I just did), THAT’S why “we all” add aholic as a prefix on items thought to be addicting. You might as well have included all American slang that was created in this manner in your rant. ---
**Author:** ![CanvasShoes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/74df32/32.png) [@CanvasShoes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CanvasShoes)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2003, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what/155819/20 "2003-02-18T23:41:44Z")
Errk!! Sorry Thudlow, “this rant” meaning the OP, not your quote here, with which I very much agreed and was using as an example!!!