Aha, now I understand. If you are a Zonker-type freak, you are a freak, not a maven. But if you are, say, totally into the Mudcat, where you might have been called a Mudcat freak, you are (also, or in fact) a Mudcat maven. If you know a lot about it. And go on about it. So this seems to contradict my prior feel that you had to be consulted, but still agree with my feel that you did have to talk about what you know, not just know it.

FFTKAT: in French, "amateur" means fan, freak, maven (lover of) - NOT amateur (to wit not professional). Professionals are more likely to be amateurs of their field than are amateurs.