How can someone be a "workaholic" if there is no such word as "workahol"?

Question

Or "shopahol" or "chocohol" for that matter.

Answer 1

You're right. It should be workic and shoppic.

Answer 2

Welcome to the beauty, or insanity of the English Languege. Our languege has come to be such that works such as workaholic can exist even though breaking the words down doesn't make a lot of sense. Because we know that an alchoholic is somone addicted to alchohol it stands to reason that workaholic is someone addicted to work, although disection of the word will not yield that meaning. The English, and especially modern English languege is rife with such made up words that have come to be actual words with meaning all their own. A few other examples of made up words are Whimsical, tintinabulation, and even Computer. As langueges, technology and society changes our vocabulary also changes to fit our needs so that we have words to describe the things we discover. The workaholic concept is a modern one meant for our modern corperate world and that conditition requried a word, someone made it up and it stuck.

Answer 3

Don't be confused because alcohol ends with the first part of the ending "aholic." "Ing" is not a word but but things such as "running" and "shopping" are. You are not just adding the "ic."

Answer 4

I would guess for a lack of a true word that expresses someones addictive personality to a situation.

Answer 5

It's just a way of expressing that somebody uses work, shopping or chocolate the way an alchololic uses alcohol.

Answer 6

These are made-up words, anyway; they are made to compare people who work, shop, or eat chocolate too much with people who abuse alcohol. It gives the words more force.

Answer 7

maybe they have a split personality ,look them up seperatly