Didactic.

A friend of mine said he'd been hearing this word a lot lately (which is funny cause now I have too) but a group of us couldn't come up with a clear definition.


adj.

Inclined to teach or moralize excessively.



Didacticism is also an artistic philosophy that emphasises instructional and informative qualities in various types of art.

In oppostion to this philosophy stood the French poet, Théophile Gautier who adopted the phrase art for art's sake as a bohemian creed in the nineteenth century.

In fact, the Latin version of that slogan, ars gratia artis, is used by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and appears in the oval around the roaring head of the lion in their logo.

Hmm.