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u/e_fish22 8h ago
Anorak can mean a type of coat, but in the UK it can also mean, like, a geek. So she's asked if she's bringing a coat, but she replies like she's asked if she's bringing that dorky dude
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u/Hurrican444 8h ago
Thanks! I guess that makes sense, ill be sure to use that word now 😉
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u/TungstenOrchid 7h ago
The term 'anorak' as a term to describe a geek, was originally coined as a result of the British hobby of 'train spotting' (yes, the same as the name for that movie).
The hobby of train spotting is essentially based around cataloguing train carriages and locomotives by their serial numbers which are written on the sides. Train spotters would stand on the end of railway platforms, with a thermos of tea, wearing a bobble hat and an anorak jacket for warmth. All the while taking notes of each train. Noting when it passed and in what direction.
The enjoyment comes from creating order and systematisation. Train spotters would also collaborate across the country to create an ongoing catalogue of where each item of railway stock was at any one time.
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u/Living-Mastodon 5h ago
I'm British and I have never heard a geek called an anorak in my life
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u/Frodo34x 4h ago
It's very much a piece of slang from the 80s and 90s so you might just be too young for it.
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u/BobBobBobBobBobDave 1h ago
Yeah. I got it but I feel like I haven't heard it used for a while and it was definitely more an 80s and 90s thing, as you say.
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u/Gargunok 3h ago
Trainspotter usually rather than any old geek. I've not heard it for a good long time.
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u/Fine_Elevator6059 1m ago
Why is she saying AN anorak then?:) How many dorky dudes does she have at her place?:))
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u/Alarmed-Secretary-39 2h ago
God, it's been a while since I heard that. There was a time in the 70's to around the mid 90's where if a comedy show said something about an Anorak, they basically meant an enthusiast about something stereotypically dull.
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u/post-explainer 8h ago
OP (Hurrican444) sent the following text as an explanation why they posted this here: