Today's word: theic (n.) an excessive drinker of tea.

Oh, this was so much fun. Imagine my surprise (and perverse delight) to discover that theism is not only belief in a supernatural power, but also excessive consumption of tea. The Latin word for tea is thea, from which theist, theism and theic all derive. The ecclesiastical meaning, of course, comes from a totally different source --theos -- the Greek word for god.

I actually have, in recent times, taken to drinking much more tea, a habit which I did indeed pick up when my Godmother used to sit me on her lap as a child, and pour her black tea into her saucer, to let it cool down before letting me sip it. The only slight exaggeration is that I haven't totally given up coffee, which has been my preferred drink for decades.

My book reproduces the following extract from Scientific American, 1886. I find it almost impossible to believe it's genuine, it's just so delightful...

America and England are the two countries that are afflicted most with the maladies arising from the excessive consumption of tea... The predominance of nervous symptoms is a characteristic of theism... Perversion of the sense of hearing is not at all an uncommon symptom -- patients report hearing voices that have no real or objective existence."

My much-treasured Christmas present for 2017 is a book by Paul Anthony Jones: "The cabinet of linguistic curiosities". Each page contains a descriptive story about some obscure or archaic word. It occurred to me it would be a fun exercise to try and write, each day, a poem featuring the "word of the day" from the book.

Thanks for reading.

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