Akademik

n.

The class of people who make their living by talking.

"After the Yuppies and the Nimbys, the Dwems, Wasps, and Simpkins, you might have thought we had had all the American social classifications we could handle. However, we are about to witness the ascendancy not of a mere group, but of a new class, one of which Karl Marx never dreamt: the schmooseoisie."

— Giles Coren, "They schmooze, therefore they are," The Times, January 9, 1996

"No wonder, Lewis admits, that he's working on a new coinage: schmoozeoisie. 'This is that class of people who earn their living by talk,' he ventures. 'It includes such traditional groups as teachers and therapists, but it's expanding. Oprah's a member of the schmoozeoise elite. Government is all schmoozeoicrats taking trillions and giving back words."

— Mark Muro, "He created a monster word," The Boston Globe, October 14, 1992

This word is a not-quite-euphonious blend of schmooze, "to talk persuasively to someone, especially for personal gain," and bourgeoisie, "the affluent middle class." The earliest citation shows not only a variant (yet more sensible) spelling ("schmoozeoise"), but also includes a description by Paul Lewis, who coined the term (and who also coined the famous Frankenfood):