Anal about anorak

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http://alt-usage-english.org/ucle/ucle9.html :
"Anorak? comes from a Greenland Eskimo word for a type of jacket. An ?Anorak? is characteristically made of waterproof materials and has a hood attached. In recent years, it has been adopted for other purposes, most commonly as a noun to describe train-spotters, computer geeks, and unpopular college students. It has also appeared as an adjective, for example, ?He?s too Anorak for me?, with the same pejorative connotation. At the time of this writing, ?Anorak? has not yet found its place in English usage as a verb. But these things take time."
I just heard the adjectival use to mean "pedantic", or worse, "anal". At least, it seemed to me to be a bit stronger than "computer geeks" ( though not as scornful as a teenager's rejection).
On the Brit car care program, "A car is reborn", the car repair man, demonstrating piston rings or gaskets or some such, said. "Not to be anorak about this", and went on with his demo of cleaning and setting replacement parts on the engine.

Usenet · Accepted Answer

[nq:1]http://alt-usage-english.org/ucle/ucle9.html : "Anorak? comes from a Greenland Eskimo word for a type of jacket. An ?Anorak? is characteristically made of ... has been adopted for other purposes, most commonly as a noun to describe train-spotters, computer geeks, and unpopular college students.[/nq]
Not so recent as to postdate the creation of the COD10 wordlist: anorak
· n.

1 a waterproof jacket, usually with a hood.
2 Brit. informal a socially inept person with unfashionable and largelysolitary interests.
? ORIGIN 1920s: from Greenland Eskimo anoraq.
[nq:1]It has also appeared as an adjective, for example, ?He?s too Anorak for me?, with the same pejorative connotation.[/nq]
SOED5 has
? anoraky adjective (in sense 2) L20.
but the use of the noun as the adjective in not exceptional, and, indeed, OED2 reports it thus:
anorak, n. Add: 2. slang (derog.). A boring, studious, or socially inept young person (caricatured as typically wearing an anorak), esp. one who pursues an unfashionable and solitary interest with obsessive dedication. Also attrib.
Note the "Also attrib."
[nq:1]At the time of this writing, ?Anorak? has not yet found its place in English usage as a verb. But these things take time."[/nq]
But the OED2 does have
Hence "anoraked a.
which suggests a use as a verb.
[nq:1]I just heard the adjectival use to mean "pedantic", or worse, "****". At least, it seemed to me to be a bit stronger than "computer geeks" ( though not as scornful as a teenager's rejection).[/nq]
I think the OED2 citation above agrees with that use. Note also the similarity to
(SOED5)
anorectal, adjective. /eIn@U"rEkt

l/ L19.
(French ano-rectal, from Latin ano- (combining form of ****) + RECTAL.) Medicine & Anatomy. Of or relating to the **** and ******.

Martin Ambuhl

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]http://alt-usage-english.org/ucle/ucle9.html : "Anorak? comes from a Greenland Eskimo word for a type of jacket. An ?Anorak? is characteristically made of ... to be anorak about this", and went on with his demo of cleaning and setting replacement parts on the engine.[/nq]
I thought it referred to outdoor pursuits that required the use of an anorak (or similar garment), and metaphorically referring to someone as "an anorak" referred to their fanaticism in pursuing a hobby (like birdwatching, train spotting etc) in whether in which sane people would be indoors.

Steve Hayes from Tshwane, South Africa
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/7734/stevesig.htm
E-mail - see web page, or parse: shayes at dunelm full stop org full stop uk

Usenet · Answer

[nq:2]http://alt-usage-english.org/ucle/ucle9.html : "Anorak" comes from a Greenland Eskimo word for ... demo of cleaning and setting replacement parts on the engine.[/nq]
[nq:1]I thought it referred to outdoor pursuits that required the use of an anorak (or similar garment), and metaphorically referring ... their fanaticism in pursuing a hobby (like birdwatching, train spotting etc) in whether in which sane people would be indoors.[/nq]
Some folk are very people-oriented, and don't understand things well. Some people are very thing-oriented, and don't understand people well. The latter characteristically wear practical clothes, are blind to social niceties, and can't understand why one shouldn't wear a sensible garment like an anorak around the city rather than something more attractice and elegant. Lots of anorak wearers only wear their anoraks to go and buy some more snacks so that they don't starve in front of their computers.
Just as the anorak wearers feel baffled and annoyed by their exclusion from the ranks of the gay socialisers, so the gay socialisers feel baffled and annoyed by their inability to understand things in an increasingly technological society. Being sociable and eloquent they have mockery at their disposal. Hence the term "anorak".

Rather sad really.

Chris Malcolm (Email Removed) +44 (0)131 651 3445 DoD #205 IPAB, Informatics, JCMB, King's Buildings, Edinburgh, EH9 3JZ, UK (http://www.dai.ed.ac.uk/homes/cam/)

Usenet · Answer

[nq:2]I thought it referred to outdoor pursuits that required the ... etc) in whether in which sane people would be indoors.[/nq]
[nq:1]Some folk are very people-oriented, and don't understand things well. Some people are very thing-oriented, and don't understand people well. ... things in an increasingly technological society. Being sociable and eloquent they have mockery at their disposal. Hence the term "anorak".[/nq]
Does that make me a "T shirt", since I don't possess an anorak?

Steve Hayes from Tshwane, South Africa
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/7734/stevesig.htm
E-mail - see web page, or parse: shayes at dunelm full stop org full stop uk

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]Some folk are very people-oriented, and don't understand things well. Some people are very thing-oriented, and don't understand people well. ... increasingly technological society. Being sociable and eloquent they have mockery at their disposal. Hence the term "anorak". Rather sad really.[/nq]
Care to extend the discussion of clothes-make-the-personality to the several people here that have recently commented on not wearing neckties? It seems to me that wearing an anorak is about the same level of practicality as not wearing a necktie. Yet, our non-necktied regulars here don't seem to be without social niceties. (Although they may grunt and **** audibly when not in view of aue.)

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]Some folk are very people-oriented, and don't understand things well. Some people are very thing-oriented, and don't understand people well. ... technological society. Being sociable and eloquent they have mockery at their disposal. Hence the term "anorak". Rather sad really. [/nq]
Yes, very sad. It is a misuse of their gift of eloquence. If somebody prefers an anorak to any other form of overwear, what harm does he do to others? This sort of personal comment is a narrow-minded application of social pressure towards an unthinking conformity to the status quo. Furthermore, it concentrates on a small-minded triviality. There is no place for this sort of eloquence in a country that claims to provide an atmosphere of individual liberty for its citizens. The eloquence would be better focussed if directed towards activities that do demonstrable social damage, such as crime in its various forms. The concept of freedom demands that we grant freedom to our fellow citizens.
Richard Chambers Leeds UK.

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