Here along the South Jersey coast, from about Long Beach Island (just above Atlantic City) south to Cape May, you are bound to hear the locals use a slang term for tourists...
shoobies. The story goes that in the late 1800's the first daytrippers to take the new train service to the shore would pack their box-lunch in a
shoebox, thus they were dubbed
shoobies. Whatever the connotation
then, this term,
today, is used with a tone of ridicule and disparagement for the stereotypical paraphernalia-laden tourists (daytrippers the worst!) who typically drive the wrong way down one-way streets and stop to ask where the ocean is when they're 2 blocks from the beach (gee, see the WATER!!!?) We love 'em, can't you tell? And, seeing that we are now in the crux of the season for the
shoobies' annual descent upon us, I was wondering if any other folks across the country or the world had their own local terms of "endearment" for tourists? Shoobie, shoobie, do!
Tourists up north in Michigan are fudgies. Indeed, any recent newcomer to the area is a fudgie, "recent" meaning within the last 20 years.
I believe grockles is the term used in the West Country.
Bingley
Yes, grockle originated in the Devon, Cornwall area of UK, but is now widespread round UK. Like many nouns it has also been verbed, meaning to act like a tourist.
Rod
Some Vermont terms for people:
The tourists (or guests, according to the Vermont Dept. Of Tourism and Marketing) who clog up the roads all autumn are known as leaf-peepers. I don't think there is a disparaging term for tourists (other than "New Yorkers") in other seasons. Retirees who winter in Florida and summer in Vermont are known as snowbirds, but that's usually not derogatory. Finally, anyone born in Vermont is known as a woodchuck, as opposed to people not born in Vermont who are known as flatlanders (yes, that's where my handle comes from) no matter how long they haved lived here. Good topic, Whit!
The natives of resort areas express contempt for the tourists, to ease their shame of being so eager for the money the tourists bring.
snowbirds
Canadian snowbirds, of course, spend their summers farther north. But we do use the same term for those winter-escaping Florida dwellers!
NH calls the seasonal influx to our seacoast, mountains and lakes "visitors." We pretty much say tourist for out-of-staters and day trippers for nearby residents just visiting for a day.
For those who move into NH : the old timers term them "carpetbaggers."
You pretty much have to be here for four or five generations to be considered Native.
Why do the natives of resort areas moan so loudly when bad weather keeps the tourists away?
Why do the natives of resort areas moan so loudly when bad weather keeps the tourists away?
Because, try as they might, they can't seem to persuade the tourists to just send the money.
Bought a T-shirt for my son the Major that said :
"If it's tourist season, how come we can't shoot 'em"
He took it home to Hawaii and so many locals kept coming up to ask him where he got it that he now wears it only around the house.
Guess it hits a nerve in any tourist area, more or less ...
persuade the tourists to just send the money.
Great idea Faldage! Ay-uh! {chuckle chuckle}
Flatlanders...VermontInteresting, Flatlander! I could never have imagined this post would draw out the meaning of your boardname!
to ease their shame for being so eager for the money the tourists bringSo, right, Dr. Bill! All locals in resort areas who survive off the tourist economy should wear T-shirts saying:
WE BITE THE HAND THAT FEEDS US! 
just send them the money! Great idea, Faldage! And then we can just send them back a picture of us smiling at them from in front of the surf! Less work that way! 
Why is it called tourist season if we can't shoot at them?
Great, wow! George Carlin coined that one! I like the T-shirt edit even better! It's open season on shoobies right now, that's for sure!
"All locals in resort areas who survive off the tourist economy "
As I mentioned, I used to live in a resort area. None of the locals paid any bills all winter unless there was a pistol to their head So in the long run the butcher, the baker, and the candlestick maker were all dependent on the tourists..
the butcher, the baker, and the candlestick maker were all dependent on the tourists..
I don't dispute that the money brought in by tourists drives the local economy. However, my few years in a tourist economy led me to call thehm "those damn tourists."
They bring their money, true. But I paid at least twice as much for toilet paper as everyone else. And to speak of the rent!
Here in Kentucky we don't have any special terms for tourists--then again we don't get that many. But I used to date a girl from Maine, and she shared with me this gem: their term for the people from Boston who would drive up to Maine for vacation (and generally behave rudely towards the locals) was "Massholes."
In all tourist trap territory, it's greedy locals against arrogant tourists. Instant half year inflation,followed by half year depression.
Maine used to be part of Massachusetts, until during the 1812 mess, Boston did nothing to protect Maine from lobsterback raids, and so Maine seceded.
Maine used to be part of Massachusetts, until during the 1812 mess, Boston did nothing to protect Maine from lobsterback raids, and so Maine seceded.
Maine didn't split from Mass until atleast the 1840s, right? I thought it was to keep the number of free and slave states equal. It was either the Compromise of 1840 or the Missouri Compromise.
Maine/Massachusetts
And how'd New Hampshire sneak in between them?
Tryin to out-think NH Yankees will keep you up all night!
Just the facts, ma'am!
As leaders in the revolutionary cause, New Hampshire delegates received the honor of being the first to vote for the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776.
New Hampshire is the only state that ever played host at the formal conclusion of a foreign war. In 1905, Portsmouth was the scene of the treaty ending the Russo-Japanese War.
The first potato planted in the United States was at Londonderry Common Field, New Hampshire in 1719.
In 1774 New Hampshire became the first state to declare itself independent from England.
In 1833 the first free public library in the United States was established in Peterborough, New Hampshire.
So there!
Maine became a state when the Missourri compromise came around in 1820, I think, and the compromise of 1850 was notable for the Fugitive Slave act.
Maine, state in northern New England in the United States. It is bounded by the Canadian provinces of Québec on the northwest and New Brunswick on the northeast. To the southwest lies New Hampshire, and to the southeast, the Atlantic Ocean. Maine entered the Union on March 15, 1820, when it was separated from Massachusetts to form the 23rd state. The name Maine probably originated as the word used by English explorers to refer to the mainland; it may also be derived from the province and region of Maine in northwestern France. Augusta is Maine's capital. Portland is the largest city.
P.S. One bit of trivia about names of places in Maine is that after being tormented by British raid of the seacoast in the Revolution, there was a revulsion against English place names, and such names as Lisbon Falls, China, etc. became common. I remember being amused by a TV program when the host thought it was fraudulent for Poland Springs water to be so named.
"Maine," Microsoft(R) Encarta(R) 98 Encyclopedia. (c) 1993-1997 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
March 15, 1820
Yes, that would be the Missouri Compromise. I just got the time frame wrong because I simply related the two compromises as direct predecessors of the Civil War. This is from Atomica:
Missouri Compromise, 1820–21, measures passed by the U.S. Congress to end the first crisis concerning the extension of slavery. Maine was admitted as a free state and Missouri as a slave state, and slavery was prohibited from the Louisiana Purchase north of 36[deg]30′. This proviso held until 1854, when the Kansas-Nebraska Act repealed the Missouri Compromise.
Well do I know the fudgies of Northern Michigan. The name derives from the tourist propensity to purchase large blocks of flavored sugar and fat. Not only did we have the beach variety, but also the National Cherry Festival fudgies and leaf-peepers as well. They are all just fudgies to us. A saying we have in Traverse City among those dependent on the service industry for their paychecks is "The bay is half the pay." Only problem is they are always run ragged during the season and starved in the winter. When do they get to enjoy the bay? Or buy over-priced fudge, for that matter? Tourists are not necessarily all fudgies, only tourists that put locals in danger with their bad driving skills or those that treat the locals like slaves, at best. I have met many fine tourists that do not qualify for fudgiehood.
consuelo
Last year, NYC became the #1 US destination for international tourists, but remains #3 (maybe 2, but i am pretty sure its 3) for US visitors. We just call all of them out of towners-- they go around looking for "Avenue of the Americas" and other mythical places. They are useful because they pay retail-- but if they all disappeared, it would just be a 2 or 3% drop in NY income.. So they cause congestion, and pedestrian traffic jams (yes, you can get a pedestrian traffic jam) and they don't even really add much to the economy! Sometime they are fun..
and to be honest, i have traveled a bit-- and haven't found a US city to compare-- but when i was in Seattle, and Victoria BC, i gawked at the trees, the same way tourist here gawk at the buildings. they have some really big trees in Pacific Northwest! (don't know what native called tree qawkers like me)
(AnnaS-- you mentioned you were a NYC tour guide-- what site do you think the best in NY? I think Empire state building, 42nd Street library, and Brooklyn Bridge the three best places (last two are free!)
Allo of troy. Can I ask you where you got your 2% to 3% drop in income stat? If NYC is the really the #1 international and #3 U.S. travel destination, those figures seem to be much too small. I can`t imagine anybody going to NYC and not spending ANY money. Do those figures take into account the hotel rentals, taxi rides et al?
you mentioned you were a NYC tour guide-- what site do you think the best in NY? I think Empire state building, 42nd Street library, and Brooklyn Bridge the three best places (last two are free!)
Yep, I agree, though one must always point out the Statue of Liberty. When I did the Harlem tour I'd add the lovely memorial to Duke "Take the A-Train" Ellington to the itinerary.
Now, for extra points, what are the names of the library lions there at 42nd Street?
The lions names-- I always forget them -- Fortitude and Perserverance? they where carved by italian stone cutters, who were recruited to do stone work at some other robber baron house.. (some of the stone cutters great great grand children still live in NYC-- they were neighbors.)
My friend CK's word: punters. Which he now is.
My mother reminded me of another Michigan naming oddity. Michigan, being a 2-piece state, has (unofficial) names for those that live in the Upper Peninsula and those that live in the Lower Peninsula. The Yoopers (or Da Yoopers) live in the Upper Peninsula and the Trolls live under the bridge.
consuelo