Subtypes of the genre

Subtypes of the genre

You may have heard the portmanteau term “pracademic” to describe someone who is both an academic and an active practitioner in the field. There’s never enough portmanteau words, so here’s some more to describe various species of the academic world:

Actademic: an academic and an activist*

Brackademic - academic who indulges excessively in cake

Clickademic – a colleague who is on the internet all day, whether genuinely working or looking at cat videos on You Tube

Crackademic – psychopharmacologist e.g David Nutt

Eckademic - expert on Scottish independence and the SNP

Flakkademic – colleague who courts controversy and publicity, often a pain in the neck e.g. Richard Dawkins

Fracademic - controversial petrogeologist

Hackademic - expert on cybersecurity or horse riding academic

Knackademic - colleague guaranteed to send any project down the toilet, also any senior academic hankering for retirement

Lackademic - poor academic in either sense of the term, lacking either money or talent (or both)

Macademic - either computer scientist or academic fond of fast food (or both)

Mockademic – a colleague who has no real academic credibility

Ochademic - any Scottish academic (may also be known as a Jockademic)

Plaquademic – either a colleague with walls plastered with certificates and awards, or one with terrible dental hygiene & halitosis
Prickademic - the genuine practitioner/academic's poor relation - instead of being a practitioner, well...you can guess the rest.

Pukkademic - bona fide academic
Rockerdemic - a colleague who is an avid fan of metal and practises air guitar in his office. Politely provide with headphones if necessary.
Quacademic - a colleague who is a compulsive member of quangos, or an academic physician with rather unorthodox views. Or a colleague who looks like a duck. 

Sackademic – the Vice Chancellor (need I say more?)

Sickademic – colleague who is either genuinely poorly or a major lead-swinger
Shtickademic - depending on context, a colleague who is a genuine hoot or a complete bozo.

Slackademic – exceptionally lazy colleague (also term for someone who never wears a suit or skirt, no matter what the occasion)

Smackademic – child psychologist who studies the effect of corporal punishment e.g. Dr Spock
Snackademic - colleague who eats lunch (and possibly breakfast and dinner) in their office in an attempt to get more work done. Instantly recognizable by used plates on pile of papers.
Stackademic - colleague who resorts to time-honoured filing system of large piles of papers all over his office. Also colleague with stacks of funding and/or publication, immune to the powers of the Sackademic (above) and often pursued by the Suckademic (below).

Suckademic – colleague who is sycophantic, usually to the sackademic (see above) in an effort to keep their job

Tackademic - either an expert on adhesives, or a colleague who compulsively puts up notices around the place (aka Tin-tackademic)

Taffademic – a Welsh academic

Trackademic – sports scientist (also US – one obsessed with gaining tenure)

Whackademic - criminologist specializing in study of Mafia hits

Yakkademic - colleague inordinately fond of their own voice

Yukkademic - colleague with office full of houseplants, or with objectionable personal habits or taste in clothes*

*(Thanks to Martin O’Neill and Ayala Prager for their suggestions and encouragement)