Vol. 10 · Portmanteaus ·Late 20th century ·1984
Infomania
information mania
- Meaning
- Compulsive checking of email, news, and notifications.
- Source words
- information + mania
- Coined by
- Elizabeth M. Ferrarini
- Year
- 1984
Background
Ferrarini's 1984 book *Confessions of an Infomaniac* coined the word. It predates smartphones by a generation; the underlying pattern — checking email compulsively on a modem-connected PC — was already diagnosed in the mid-1980s.
Late 20th century
Marketing, media, and the early internet. Infomercial, emoticon, workaholic — the coinages name phenomena of mass media and white-collar life. Several predate the decades they're associated with.
Two words, one coinage.
Browse every portmanteau on the shelf — or cross over to the loanwords atlas.