Anoraks, wasRE: More fighters + (real) Java Space Dock!

>OK, I've been wondering this.	What does "anorak" mean in
>the context of games (specifically wargames, I think).  I
>think it means a parka (and Rob mentions that later), but
>I have no idea what the connotation of the word is in this
>context.
>I found out what grognard meant, but not anorak.
>Thanks,
>andy
>andy.skinner@tseng.com

An anorak is indeed a bit like a parka, both being Inuit words.  
They are both extremely "uncool" items of clothing, and tend to be worn
by
sad, friendless persons whose mums buy all their clothes.  The word has
thus
been given a second meaning, "archetypal dull harmless social misfit". 
This
usage is fairly interchangeable with "Train-spotter" and its contraction
"spod" as terms of contempt.  The term conjures up an image of a
trainspotter wearing an anorak zipped up all the way to the neck,
too-tight
stained corduroy trousers of the wrong length, plastic brogue shoes and
the
lower edge of a pullover of hideous pattern knitted by a mad aunt in
Bletchley visible below the lower edge of the anorak.  This is
fortunate, as
the Spod has invariably pulled his perforated ochre Y-fronts up so high
that
there would otherwise be a distressing 4-inch cordon of underwear on
display
above the waist-band.  His pebble-thick spectacles have broken National
Health Service frames "temporarily" repaired for the last 10 years with
grubby Elastoplast.  His bicycle clips are never removed voluntarily,
and a
strange odour of cheese seems to emanate from his vicinity.  He spends
all
his time on hobbies which are pursued with a fanaticism proportional to
their lack of importance.  There are females of the species, but they
are
rarely seen out of doors.  

Hope this helps!

Rob

Rob Paul
NERC Institute of Virology 
Mansfield Road, Oxford OX1 3SR	  Tel. (01865) 512361
rkp@mail.nerc-oxford.ac.uk
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