Cat- and dog-lovers in Modern Greek

Question

Hello, Today's word at wordsmith.org is **ailurophile**: >MEANING: >noun: One who loves cats. >ETYMOLOGY: >From Greek ailuro- (cat) + -phile (lover). More common, of course, is "cat lover." What about in modern Greek? Google translate says "γάτα εραστής." I get only a few hundred hits when I phrase-search with that term. Is there a more common, equivalent expression? Re: dogs... My mother uses the word "σκύλομανία" (somewhat pejoratively) to characterize present-day U.S. attitudes towards dogs. Are there pejorative modern Greek terms for animal lovers? something equivalent to ["cat lady"](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cat_lady) or "dog crazy"? Thanks!

Answer 1

As many other words today (see medical terms), ailurophile is a facetious coinage of two Ancient Greek words, αίλουρος (= domestic cat) and φιλώ (= αγαπώ). There is one equivalent in Modern Greek, "γατόφιλος" (a person who loves cats), which is not pejorative. The word σκυλομανία is undoubtedly pejorative, because it means that a person is obsessed with dogs. The word "μανία" means "too much love, obsession".