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Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 2
stranger
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OP
stranger
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 2 |
Hello everybody.
I wonder whether there is a specific word for a person who tries to read secretly the newspaper or magazine another person is reading -- for instance on a bus, train, etc.
Thank you very much.
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Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613 |
Welcome, athenian.
My, what an interesting question! The term ill-mannered
comes to mind, but that is not a noun. I would call this
kind of person a snoop, maybe. A slang term could be
buttinsky, but that may apply more to conversation.
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Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 3,467
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 3,467 |
>I wonder whether there is a specific word for a person who tries to read secretly the newspaper or magazine another person is reading -- for instance on a bus, train, etc.
Cheapskate.
What I really hate is the arm reaching over my shoulder to fill in a box on the crossword puzzle. Or the guy muttering, "Can't you read ANY faster than that?"
TEd
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Joined: Jun 2000
Posts: 724
old hand
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old hand
Joined: Jun 2000
Posts: 724 |
> I wonder whether there is a specific word for a person who tries to read secretly the
> newspaper or magazine another person is reading
Any suggestions of a neologism for this? I came up with the word "intreader"?
(an intruder who reads and a reader who intrudes)
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Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 2,204
Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 2,204 |
>is a specific word for a person who tries to read secretly the newspaper or magazine another person is reading
How about "supra-clavicle scrutineer"?
or "free-reader" - if they haven't paid their fare, they would be "free-rider/readers," but these would be specific to users of public transport.
And what is the correct name for the person who has bought the reading material and is being so used?
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Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 3,467
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 3,467 |
>is a specific word for a person who tries to read secretly the newspaper or magazine another person is reading
How about day-cribber. With no apologies to the Beatles.
Which reminds me. Yesterday I took the kids for a walk and there were some pre-teens in the park with a boom box. The noise coming from the boom box reminded me of the time I heard the delivery truck full of empty trash cans (bins) collide with the truckful of pigs. I made a comment to the kids that I felt no good music had been made since the day John Lennon was killed. Believe it or not, the kids asked, "Who's John Lennon?"
TEd
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Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 460
addict
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addict
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 460 |
Hi, Athenian.
"Scram!", perhaps?
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Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 200
enthusiast
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enthusiast
Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 200 |
i think it's important to distinguish, at this point, between the two types of "intreaders".
one type looks away when you meet their (his) (her) (his/her) (hser) (heris) eyes, trying to pretend they were just passing from the advertisement behind your head to the scene outside the window, and the other gives you a geniune, vague, cheapskate smile.
i'm in the second category.
in addition, i think people with newspapers on trains should hold them up instead of hiding half the article under a fold in their laps.
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Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 218
enthusiast
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enthusiast
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 218 |
>>"Who's John Lennon?"
Worse than that (could it be worse than not remembering Lennon?) is that they probably can't find Viet Nam on a map, identify the capital of half the U.S. states (or anyl the world's nations), recall who the second president os the U.S. was, who the prior U.S. president was, etc. etc. etc.
Is Dr. Dre their physician of choice? Is Eminem their favorite candy? Is Smashing Pumpkins their halloween activity of choice?
Sorry. Asides lead to other asides, and we are left wondering how we got here.
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Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 6,511
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 6,511 |
>>Worse than that (could it be worse than not remembering Lennon?) is that they probably can't find Viet Nam on a map, identify the capital of half the U.S. states .....
*sigh* Don't even get me started..... (maybe we should revive this topic in the Schools forum). Nah, never mind.
Meanwhile, on a cheerier note (I guess), my 17-year-old niece interviewed me for a paper she was writing on the Beatles. I asked her what course it was for. History.
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