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Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 4,189
Carpal Tunnel
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OP
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 4,189 |
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!
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 1,773
Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 1,773 |
Tourists up north in Michigan are fudgies. Indeed, any recent newcomer to the area is a fudgie, "recent" meaning within the last 20 years.
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Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 3,065
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 3,065 |
I believe grockles is the term used in the West Country.
Bingley
Bingley
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Joined: Feb 2001
Posts: 609
addict
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addict
Joined: Feb 2001
Posts: 609 |
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
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 428
addict
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addict
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 428 |
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!
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858 |
The natives of resort areas express contempt for the tourists, to ease their shame of being so eager for the money the tourists bring.
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 1,156
old hand
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old hand
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 1,156 |
snowbirds
Canadian snowbirds, of course, spend their summers farther north. But we do use the same term for those winter-escaping Florida dwellers!
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Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 3,439
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 3,439 |
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.
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858 |
Why do the natives of resort areas moan so loudly when bad weather keeps the tourists away?
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Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803 |
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.
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