( GOOD.IS ) -- Our collective use of the word `` addiction '' is getting out of hand . What are you hooked on ? A quick Twitter search shows the absurd range of meanings carried by one word : `` addiction . '' Pain-med addiction in the NFL and Charlie Sheen 's presumed addictions fit the medical definition , but apparently cupcake enthusiasts suffer from a `` cake tin addiction . '' Technology is an addiction magnet : People love to confess/boast about their addiction to YouTube , iPhone , Droid , Twitter , and CrackBerry . Others have low-tech addictions to tattoos , Gatorade , worrying , hockey , green tea , Shamrock Shakes , coffee , white chocolate , porn , American Idol , jazz , love , and Reggie Bush . This word covers everything from America 's gasoline intake to a psychotherapy-soaked update of a classic excuse : `` My dog has a digging addiction and buried my homework . '' GOOD : Fashion addicts stop shopping for one year . Like so many words , the meaning of `` addiction '' has varied wildly over time , but the trajectory might surprise you . The common perception is that `` addiction '' was drug-centric at birth , before gradually spreading to broader and sillier stuff , like sex addiction and Internet addiction . In reality , it 's gone from broad to specific to broad , taking on and shuffling off many meanings . Addictions have always been with us , but a single , unified meaning of `` addiction '' is hard to score . GOOD : Would a laptop for every student help ? The ultimate authority on English language history , the Oxford English Dictionary , shows the first variation of `` addiction '' popping up in the 1500s . The term comes from the Latin addictus , and in Rome , being `` addict '' -- originally an adjective -- meant being forced by a judge to be a servant or slave , often because of debt . From there , `` to addict '' started meaning to voluntarily `` bind or attach oneself to a person , party , or cause ; to devote oneself to as a servant , adherent , or disciple . '' The meaning of `` addiction '' then grew to mean a zealous , disciple-like devotion . You can see traces of this meaning in a classic Kramer rant to chocoholic George : `` You may stray , but you 'll always return to your dark master : the cocoa bean ! '' Also in the 1500s , `` addiction '' is first found with a broader meaning of `` immoderate or compulsive '' dedication or devotion to something , which is exactly like our current addictions to cinnamon rolls and Angry Birds . Not until the 1700s did `` addiction '' start to become substance-specific , and it took much longer for the William S. Burroughs sense to take hold . In Psychology Today , social/clinical psychologist Stanton Peele wrote an excellent piece on the evolution of addiction , noting that , `` Only in the 20th century was it narrowed and restricted to the use of narcotics , specifically heroin . Any 'expansion ' is thus a return to addiction 's traditional meaning . '' GOOD : How to share your stuff with groups . Word maven Michael Quinion has more addiction history here , and a recent update to the OED filled in some blanks . Terms such as `` addiction counseling '' and `` addiction counselor '' did n't pop up till the early 1970s , perhaps because of post-1960s drug awareness . We 've been talking about Internet addiction almost as long as we 've been talking about the Internet ( or at least since 1994 ) . Though Tiger Woods owns the term these days , `` sex addict '' goes all the way back to 1927 , and the narcissistic `` self-addiction '' -- custom-made for the Twitter age -- is found in 1642 . I love the term `` over-addiction , '' which is traced to 1662 and seems to mean `` mega-addiction . '' These days , we might call it an addiction-pocalypse . With so many types and meanings of addiction , it 's always been a challenge for medical professionals to determine , as Peele writes in PT , `` Just what does addiction refer to ? Is it a brain disease ? A behavioral pattern ? Or is it a larger experiential pattern ? '' Medical tomes such as the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual are continually revised but Peele summarizes the key points for layfolk : `` Addiction is the search for emotional satisfaction -- for a sense of security , a sense of being loved , even a sense of control over life . But the gratification is temporary and illusory , and the behavior results instead in greater self-disgust , reduced psychological security , and poorer coping ability . That 's what all addictions have in common . '' That 's what all illness-type addictions have in common , anyway . I get plenty of emotional satisfaction from my daily fix of books like the OED and Green 's Dictionary of Slang . My word obsession has n't raised or lowered my ability to cope , and my level of self-disgust has held steady since Catholic grammar school . I guess I 'm in the safe , general range of addiction rather than the medical danger zone . © 2010 Good . All rights reserved .
Lexicographer Mark Peters : We 'd snort the word addicted if it were possible . Oxford English Dictionary : Being `` addict '' or forced by a judge to be a servant . Apparently cupcake enthusiasts suffer from a `` cake tin addiction '' `` Sex addict '' goes back to 1927 ; `` self-addiction '' is found in 1642 .