shutterbug
noun

- a photography enthusiast

- a person who enjoys taking photographs and takes a lot of them, but who is not a professional photographer

Merriam-Webster, Cambridge Dictionary

—
WORD ORIGIN

The term shutterbug originated in the 1930s as an informal word for an enthusiastic amateur photographer. It combines shutter (referring to the camera’s shutter mechanism) and bug (slang for someone obsessed with a particular activity). The earliest known print usage dates to 1939 in the Los Angeles Times, though it likely circulated in conversation earlier. By the 1940s, it appeared in newspapers like the Pittsburgh Press to describe photography hobbyists. The term reflects the mid-20th-century rise of accessible photography equipment.

—
PHOTO FACTS

- There's a documented psychological phenomenon called "photographer's paradox" where amateur photographers often enjoy events less when photographing them, despite believing they'll enjoy the memories more later.

- Amateur wildlife photographers have collectively documented over 100 previously unknown species behaviours that professional researchers missed, leading to formal scientific publications.

- The longest continuous photo project by an amateur photographer belongs to Nicholas Nixon, who photographed his wife and her three sisters annually for 43 years (1975-2017), creating an intimate time-lapse of aging.

- The average person touches their smartphone about 2,617 times per day, with "extreme" users touching their phones more than 5,400 times daily—more than many professional pianists touch piano keys during practice.

- Urban mining is the process of extracting valuable metals from electronic waste. Studies indicate that one ton of mobile phone waste can contain about 300-400 grams of gold, whereas one ton of natural gold ore yields only 1-2 grams.

- "Phantom Vibration Syndrome" refers to the perception that one's mobile phone is vibrating when it is not. It's considered a tactile hallucination associated with excessive mobile phone use. ​

- Frequent smartphone use has been linked to conditions like "texting thumb" (De Quervain's tenosynovitis), "smartphone pinky" (pain or deformity in the pinky finger), and "text neck" (neck pain from looking downward at devices). ​

- Smartphone accelerometers are sensitive enough that researchers have demonstrated they can detect earthquakes and could potentially create the world's largest earthquake early-warning network if enough users opted into sharing this sensor data.

—
SYNONYMS



amateur photographer (snapper), camera/photo buff (enthusiast, fanatic, geek, hobbyist, junkie, lover, nut), click collector (freak), clicker, f-stop junkie, foto fan, hobby photographer, lens lover, paparazzo, photo buff, photo collector, photo devotee, photo enthusiast, photo explorer, picture snapper, SHUTTERBUG, shutter nutter, snapper, snapshot collector

—
SMUGGLE OWAD into an English conversation, say something like:

“The SHUTTERBUG in me just can’t resist a good sunset.”

—

THANKS to Florence for suggesting today's OWAD.

—
P L E A S E   S U P P O R T   O W A D

On evenings and weekends, I research and write your daily OWAD newsletter together with Helga—my lovely wife and coaching partner, and our eagle-eyed daughter, Jennifer.

It remains FREE, AD-FREE, and ALIVE thanks to voluntary donations from appreciative readers.

If you aren’t already, please consider supporting us — even a small donation, equivalent to just 1-cup-of-coffee a month, would help us in covering expenses for mailing, site-hosting, maintenance, and service.

Just head over to DonorBox:
Please help keep OWAD alive

or

Bank transfer:
Paul Smith
IBAN: DE75 7316 0000 0002 5477 40

Important: please state as ’Verwendungszweck’: “OWAD donation” and the email address used to subscribe to OWAD.

Thanks so much,

Paul, Helga, & Jenny Smith

- Feedback, questions, new word suggestions to: paul@smith.de

- OWAD homepage, word archive, FAQs, publications, events, and more: www.owad.de

---

- to unsubscribe from OWAD, CLICK HERE