Today’s Word: hoarder

September 29, 2018 =========

☆  hoarder   溜め込む人

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A hoarder is someone who saves and stores things, often secretly, because they are valuable to them, and they don’t want others to have those things. In Western culture, being a hoarder is actually not that unusual. People buy, and keep, a lot of things that they don’t really need. However, someone who jokingly says, “I’m a bit of a hoarder.” is probably able to throw things away if they really want to.

In 2009, there was an American reality TV show called Hoarders, which showed people who we real hoarders – people who kept so much stuff, a lot of it is just trash they should throw away – and it introduced the concept of a true hoarder being someone who might have a mental illness. So, in the TV show they had two people helping them: a psychologist and a decluttering expert. The series was popular enough to run for 8 years until last year! Was it ever on Japanese TV?

To be honest, I’ve never actually watched it! Why? Because it makes me feel so sad to see people who are hoarders, because they are obviously trapped by their stuff and need help – and being on reality TV probably isn’t the sort of help they actually need!

Bye,

Chris