I could wave my cane at you, dear Zacharias. Let me accomodate my bifocals, while I inform you that the term "anorak" can be translated to the rest of the non-british world as "nerd". If you translate it as trainspotter, we could be left clueless, except for the movie fans. It is like an american explaining that a nerd is a geek. Great translation!zac510 wrote:Ted, an anorak is also someone who is obsessively interested in something, like a trainspotter. Probably more of a common old English term than American.
I'm sure there are a couple ofpeople here on the wrong side of 40 so you're not that old
Grandma, who was born in 1907, and is still chugging along, always bought me anoraks, as they were cheaper than anything else in the Spain of my youth. They are weatherproof jackets, originally with feathers inside. I do not know how the word came to mean a guy obsessed with outdoor sports (logical in some twisted way).
Then there was an english band, Marillion or something, end of the 70's and their fans were "anoraks" and this was the first time I heard of it applied to a group, long before you and your father were born, Zac. Sort like "punks", but with "anora" instead of "pun" and a lot less sticky hair.
And BTW, I do know who is on the wrong side of 40, young lad! When the testosterone overload subsides and your brain starts to work normally again, you will understand!
After that, somehow the word reached the status of "nerd" for anything in the british world and slowly, like the british pound, expanded through some parts of Europe.
Back to thread (why do I have to use this phrase so many times?), I can understand why Eddie Irvine is having an affair with Pamela Anderson: he is fearless... and do not care about comparisons.
I wouldn't touch Pamela with a pole the size of Tommy Lee's.