26sep2009

logorrhea

\law-guh-REE-uh\ , noun:

1.Pathologically incoherent, repetitious speech.

2.Incessant or compulsive talkativeness; wearisome volubility.

Quotes:

By his own measure, he is a man of many contradictions, beginning with the fact that he is famous as a listener but suffers from "a touch of logorrhea." He is so voluble that one wonders how his subjects get a word in edgewise.

-- Mel Gussow, "Listener, Talker, Now Literary Lion: It's Official.", New York Times, June 17, 1997

It's also not good if your date has logorrhea.

-- Monte Williams, "8 Minutes in the Life of a Jewish Single: Not Attracted? Next!", New York Times, March 5, 2000

Mr. King, who possesses an enviable superabundance of imagination, suffers from a less enviable logorrhea.

-- Michele Slung, "Scare Tactics.", New York Times, May 10, 1981

Origin:

Logorrhea is derived from Greek logos, "word" + rhein, "to flow."