Welcome to the Verbihund Café

Fetching fun with words and ideas

I’m Kate Morgan Reade, and I’m so glad you’re here!

I really like words. I am a verbihund, dictionary diver, Thesaurus Rex, portmanteau meddler, metaphor intermingler, and shameless purveyor of verbal roguery. I dig etymological excavations, literary device devilry, and logophilic levity in the investigation of all things interesting. And bad puns. Always with the puns.

Ok, so what does verbihund mean, anyway?

Ah, so glad you asked! It’s new. I made it up. A neologism, if you will. And if you won’t, well, that’s ok too, but first, allow me to define it.

Introducing the freshly minted coin of my realm…

ver•bi•hund (vuhr' bi hund) n. pl. verbihundar

[Coined in English in 2023 by Kate Morgan Reade from Latin verbum "word" + Old English hund "dog, hound" from Proto-Germanic *hundaz (source also of Old Saxon and Old Frisian hund, Old High German hunt, German Hund, Old Norse hundr, Gothic hunds) Etymological source material compiled from one of my favorite verbihund sites, Online Etymological Dictionary by Douglas Harper. To quote Wayne and Garth, “we’re not worthy.” While on the subject of unworthiness and aspiration, Richard Lederer, Verbivore Extraordinaire, is my lifelong hero. It’s partially his fault I’ve become what I am. I also blame my mother, whose response to “What does [insert word] mean?” was always, “Look it up and make it your own.” Thanks, Mom! Also responsible are my third grade teacher Miss Olsen, who taught us the details of how to use a dictionary and what all the cryptic bits meant; various and sundry really smart teachers, librarians, English and especially non English subject teachers who nevertheless expected us to use the language correctly; and my high school Latin teacher, Mr. Doogan, who supercharged my love affair with words. Ad adstra per verba, Mr. D!]

1 A person obsessed by words in any of the following ways: their meanings, origins, morphologies, usage, and living qualities; i.e., the sight, sound, smell, taste, texture, and association with everything in the history of the universe, ever.   2 One who plays with language like a dog with a ball.   3 A person who enjoys digging for archaic forms of words, excavates etymologies, rolls with joy in particularly luscious words or combinations of words.   4 A person who hears with the acuity of a canine the cadence, timbre, pitch, dynamics, or inflection of words.    5 One who uses the ideas words represent.   6 One who writes, reads, speaks, sings, or otherwise takes great pleasure in words, literature, literary devices, and language.   7 A groupie of technical bits known by mystical heroes like linguists.   8 A person afflicted by any of the following: an affinity for different kinds of pens and inks; the feel and smell of old and new books; book bindings, end papers, and cover materials. Symptoms include appreciating the smell of certain book glues and inks, playing with ink, touching paper for the texture, weight, and character of it; feeling glee over a particular texture of paper such that it distracts from the text; a reverence for illuminated manuscripts and calligraphy; imagining working in a medieval scriptorium; being fascinated by hieroglyphs, cuneiforms, runes, Cyril and Methodius, Glagolitic script, vellum, fiber content, papermaking, fonts, serifs, tails, blotters, drawing, book binding, typesetting, printing, letterpress, publishing, and anything remotely associated with writing, reading, illustrating, disseminating, or purveying words.

syn logophile; verbivore  

ant none found: too terrible to contemplate (the opposite of verbihund that is, not ants, which are not terrifying unless you are picnic food).

Why a Verbihund Café?

I am fortunate to have several local indie coffee shops where I can find a place to park, meet friends, accost dogs with their people sitting at tables outside, eat good food, celebrate a good day, kvetch about a bad one, enjoy live music, local art, or just sit solo and read, sketch, notice things, or dork out.

This kind of community has not been extant for big chunks of my life, and I know there are others who do not have access to a place like that either, for all kinds of reasons. Verbihund Café changes that, as a tangible virtual locus to have, be, and do all those things! And yes, tangible virtual makes perfect sense to me, and I start sentences with And. If these kinds of things frighten you, it’s not too late to click away forever, but I hope you’ll stay here and play with the cool kids.

So please, step inside. There is an overstuffed sofa, a Morris chair, a set of dark teal velvet wingback chairs, and a smooth maple rocker positioned around the low table where I’ve just set my espresso. The corner bookcases are packed with great titles: it is a free exchange system, so take what you like, and feel free to bring books you want to pass along (oh, hey, I call that Gustav Klimt—but if you’re interested, I’ll bring it back when I’m finished).

The aroma of raspberry pecan scones fresh from the oven, hum of conversation, and distant music invite us to relax and meet others.

Photo by mk. s on Unsplash

I’ll start. As I mentioned, I’m Kate. I write. A lot. I talk too, but I also listen. I read like a fiend and am constantly reflecting on things. Life. I have strong feelings about things like (anti)social media, feeling both ire and aversion toward the frenetic botverse which relentlessly force-feeds heaping forkfuls of algorithmic drek down the throats of everyone it can. Hard. Pass.

I consider myself a citizen, not a consumer, and strive to live as unfettered as possible by groupthink, mass media, advertising, social media, and the agendas of those with outsized megaphones in the public sphere. Big noise and overreach do not equal good thinking.

Together with a lifelong obsession with words and language, I have a voracious curiosity constantly plunging me down one or another rabbit holes. Here is a sampling of what’s in the warren at present (not in any order of importance): wealth inequality; history; capitalism; democracy; patriarchy; misogyny; anti-diet culture; education; universal healthcare; consumerism; leadership; workplace abuse; economics; literacy; geography; geopolitics; global warming; justice; equity; immigration; pluralism; body liberation; music; creativity; mental health; pet overpopulation; parenting; children; relationships, sustainable agriculture; real food, science, science, SCIENCE. To name a few.

What are you passionate about?

What are you reading?

Let’s use this as a forum for what’s on our minds, wherever that takes us. Connecting with real people invites discovery, and that leads to interesting and surprising places.

We’ll part feeling refreshed, with that internal hum, borne of getting outside ourselves. We’ll return to our dailiness—but shifted a bit. If we’re lucky, some element of truth or beauty will also have bloomed in the process.

My hope is that you’ll feel at home in this space, and benefit in ways yet unrealizable. May it be enriching, inspiring, mobilizing, reflective, entertaining, provocative, surprising, distracting, relatable, comforting, disturbing, jocose, validating, informative, insightful.

I’ll save a comfy chair for you…

KMR

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So, what can you expect?

I’m going to begin with the following format:

SUNDAY

Essay

Usually short, with the occasional longform piece that is deeper, contemplative, or more complex.

MONDAY

Quote

I have always collected them. I hope they inspire you, too!

WEDNESDAY

Peeves Unleashed

We all have them, so let’s throw them down and bond over the pain.

Periodic reader polls to rank the most egregious!

FRIDAY

Minced Metaphors

Lightening the mood with mangled metaphors, idioms, and other valiant-but-failed attempts at figurative language.

NOT TO FORGET THE OTHER DAYS…

I have a basket filled with additional ideas, which, like adding eggs to make a great custard, will be prepared individually and added one at a time.

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Why subscribe?

Well, an unpaid subscription is a no-brainer, right? Try it on, see if it fits, that kind of thing. High speed, low drag, so why not?

Access for free subscribers will be very generous; after all, how can you decide whether to commit your hard-earned money to something unless you get to evaluate it? I hope you will find value in this community and support the work and discipline of connection.

As a paid subscriber, though, you’ll have power and voice! You’ll have a say in what topics, segments, or features end up here. Periodically (and related to the growth of paid subscriptions) paid subscribers will be invited to contribute on a particular topic, or by a call for a specific format (to include visual). If published, you will be paid for your work.

So, if you’re on board based on what you’ve seen this far, please consider putting paid to the choice and enjoying more bad puns. Glutton for punishment, eh? You know you want to support the love of language, community, and ideas, so…

Supporting a writing livelihood means you will

• have a voice

• invest in civil society

• take an active part in shaping the conversation

• support great writing

• vote for people, not corporations

• be invited to contribute for publication and be paid for your work

I can’t do it without you, because, let’s be honest, I need the income. I finally burned out in a flaming hot crispy pile of not-kissing-corporate-ass-any-longer-just-NO, leaving a regular job to restore what sanity I might aspire to regain. I’ve been and remain an entrepreneur at heart. Also, without you, I’m just talking to myself. It’s not a good look, walking around without any obvious signs I’m talking to another human, and the Bluetooth possibility only goes so far.

A huge thank you in advance for your trust in me and in this adventure!

Cheers!

Kate

Please refer to terms of service regarding refunds.