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There is a type of person who prefers reading by text page or printed page rather than pdf file or web browser. Can I ask how come we call this type of person?

Update: I have a look around and see that: In informal English, we can combine a noun with “person” to mean “I am a person who prefers (noun)” or “My personality is compatible with (noun).”

I’m a people person.

I’m a morning person.

Are you a paper person or a digital person?

Are you a physical book person or an e-book person?

Because this is informal English, the meaning might not be immediately clear to everyone. The speaker may have to clarify their exact meaning. So is "physical book person" normally used among English speakers and acceptable in informal cases then?

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Why does the person prefer paper? If they do not like technology in and of itself we might call them a Luddite, which is usually an insult. But if they simply prefer not to read on a screen (for example, their eyes have an easier time focusing on paper) I don't think there is a separate term; we just say they prefer paper rather than screens.

As to your edit, if you included the contrast ("Are you a physical-book person or a digital person?") the meaning would be clear. But we do not, in common speech, say someone is "a book person" unless we are directly comparing books to something else: movies, or board games, or e-readers. It would sound strange without that context, unlike "people person" or "morning person" or "cat person" which are all commonly used on their own.

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  • Personally, I am a person likes to know about technology but does not like to read on the screen so Luddite seems not to be applied properly in this case. I just updated some searches around in my original post, I will highly appreciate it if you can give it a look. Commented May 9, 2021 at 23:41
  • Yes, and you are correct, even in my first language, people also use "they prefer paper rather than screens" to indicate this type of person, I am curious of knowing if there is any word in English that can shorten this call. Commented May 9, 2021 at 23:42
  • @Phuc see my edit.
    – randomhead
    Commented May 10, 2021 at 0:08

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