the.com/hobbyist
Someone who pays to get good at something no one is paying them for.
means A person who pursues an activity for personal enjoyment and skill-building rather than for income.
from Traces back to 'hobby,' which once meant a small horse or pony — from the medieval name 'Robin' or 'Hob,' commonly given to horses. That sense extended to 'hobby-horse,' a toy or costume horse used in play and folk performance, and by extension to any pastime one 'rides' obsessively for fun. 'Hobbyist' simply tacks on '-ist' to name the person who rides that pastime, a coinage that followed once 'hobby' had settled into its modern meaning of a pursuit done purely for pleasure.
- spending pattern
- buys gear faster than skill improves
- defining trait
- explains the hobby unprompted at parties
- economic status
- net financial loss, infinite joy return
- endgame
- garage slowly becomes the hobby's museum