What is it called when you get aroused by watching people die?

By: | Post date: 2017-01-12 | Comments: 2 Comments
Posted in categories: Ancient Greek, English, Linguistics

Vote #1 Vicky Prest: Vicky Prest’s answer to What is it called when you get aroused by watching people die?

No, seriously. Because this answer is just pedantic commentary on her answer, from someone who knows too much Greek, and can look up words on Wikipedia: List of paraphilias – Wikipedia.

Symphorophilia. Literally, “misfortune-love”. Not what I would have picked, because the word could just mean “chance” or “conjunction”. Coined by some sexologist with a dictionary in 1984 (John Money). Does not mean the subject necessarily died, just that they were in some arranged disaster:

A special form of sacrificial paraphilia, for which a suitable name is symphorophilia (being erotically turned on by accidents or catastrophes), culminates in an arranged disaster, such as an automobile crash. Like a game of Russian roulette, it may end in death — alone or with the partner. However, flirting with disaster, rather than suicide and murder is the trigger responsible for autoerotic arousal and excitement. Being the daredevil who will live to risk a love-death again is an essential part of this paraphilia.

Looks like people use it to mean getting off on watching someone dying, but it is more about the risk of someone dying; like auto-asphyxiation is about the risk of choking.

So: no.

Erotophonophilia “erotic murder love”. Three-part compounds in Greek make me nervous. Wikipedia offers the synonym dacnolagnomania “bite horny obsession”, which is… huh? Wikipedia’s entry for the paraphilia is Lust murder. (The entry says erotophonophilia is “gratification contingent on the death of a human being”; but phonos is murder, not just death.)

So: no.

Autassassinophilia. Another John Money coinage.

It’s a good thing John Money is dead. Because by rights he should be taken out and hung, for the cold blooded murder of the Grecian tongue!

John Money, you fricking tosser! Do you think Greeks had no word for being killed? Do you think we Greeks were so clueless, they had to wait for you to come up with the word auto-assassination? And that they didn’t have a notion of killing until the fucking Hashashin of the 11th century?!

SLAP! Auto- SLAP! phono- SLAP! philia, you SLAP! illiterate SLAP! shmuck!

Even that’s crap: it sounds like suicide (killing yourself), not yourself being killed. Biaiothanatophilia “violent death love” would be slightly clearer.

Autassasinophilia (fuck me, that sticks in my throat) is getting off on the risk of getting killed. John Money said that it was a complement to erotophonophilia; Wikipedia cites a psychologist saying no, the autassassinophiliac gets off on just the risk of being killed; the erotophonophiliac gets off on actually killing someone. So the meeting of the two is not necessarily going to leave both happy.

That ain’t watching people die, in any case, so no.

Thanatophilia “death love” or Necrophilia “corpse love”, we know. That ain’t watching people die either, so no.

Hm…. I’m going through the Wikipedia list again.

(Recognising a few that I’m going to put away for future reference. 🙂

Eproctophilia for fart fetish? Proctos is the Greek for anus; what the fuck is E- ? THAT BETTER NOT BE THE FUCKING LATIN FOR “OUT OF”! Ancient Greek had a word for farting, DID YOUR GREEK DICTIONARY SKIP IT?! I’M LOOKING AT YOU, JOHN MONEY! Pordophilia, you IDJIT!

… I should get danger money for looking at this list, the Latin–Greek hybrids are hurting my eyes… And who the hell thought vorarephilia was a good idea? Not just a Latin–Greek hybrid, but a fucking infinitive?! I thought Franklin Veaux had a typo when I saw him mention it.

Is not knowing shit about Classical languages a prerequisite for sexologists?!

Assclowns. (I’m sure there’s a paraphilia for that too.)

Nothing in Wikipedia’s list that matches “arousal by watching people die”. I’m going to Aggrawal’s list of 547 paraphilias: Aggrawal, Anil (2009). Forensic and Medico-legal Aspects of Sexual Crimes and Unusual Sexual Practices. Boca Raton: CRC Press. pp. 369–82

… Oh fuck me, it’s worse. Afophilia “sexual stimulation via touch” with an F?! Aphephilia, which is THE SAME WORD?! Allotriorasty: where did you put the -e-?! Autoscopophilia “gratification by looking at one’s own body”, also known as autoscophilia: yeah, if you randomly delete syllables it is. Iantranudia “flashing your doctor”: doctor is iatros, not iantros, and –nudia is just silly.

Assclowns. I’m not even reading the “Greek” any more. And if anyone has this book, for Godsakes, ask me first before you use anything in its glossary. Most of the terms listed have bona fide typos.

Homicidophilia? That’s just the same as erotophonophilia; no voyeurism there.

Taphephilia “arousal from being buried alive” and Taphophilia “arousal from funerals” are of course the same word (“tomb love”), and no voyeurism there either.

I got nothing out of any of those lists. Which is strange, since the whole point of snuff films is this paraphilia.

(Yes, I know snuff films are fictional. Half those paraphilias looked fictional to me too.)

If I were to make up a word for this, I’d take the Greek for voyeurism, “Scop[t]ophilia”, combine it with “death” or “murder”, and come up with thanatoscop[t]ophilia or phonoscop[t]ophilia. I prefer the former.

Thanatoscopophilia. Love of watching death.

Of course, I should not go around making up words for paraphilias. My knowledge of actual Greek is too good for me to be a sexologist.

Vicky Prest, thank you for that. That was actually fun!

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