| 释义 |
gricer, n. colloq.|ˈgraɪsə(r)|
[Origin uncertain. Said to have been current in 1938 amongst members of the Manchester Locomotive Society (H. D. Bowtell).
The suggestion that the word is a humorous representation of a ‘received’ pronunciation of grouser n.1, or that it is formed on a humorous plural of grouse n.1, on the basis of the supposed resemblance of train-spotting to grouse-shooting, has been reported several times independently: see Railway World (1970) June 279, which also gives some other speculative etymologies.]
A railway enthusiast, esp. one who assiduously seeks out and photographs unusual trains; loosely, a train-spotter.
1969Railway World Dec. 550/1 Perhaps the greatest unpreserved loss has been the gricer, or full time railway enthusiast. 1971D. J. Smith Discovering Railwayana ix. 53 The so-called ‘gricers’ of the sixties, young men who devoted their whole leisure time to photographing the last of particular classes and types of steam engines. 1981New Scientist 10 Dec. 723/2 Some of the gricers, earnest, fresh-faced young men..who had cut their milk teeth on Hornby trains, had booked on this train two years ago. 1990Independent 29 Oct. 14/2 He is attempting to travel over every inch of British Rail's 25,530 miles of track, but he is not just a ‘gricer’. More than anything, he likes putting on mileage.
So ˈgricing vbl. n., the activity of gricers, train-spotting; hence (as a back-formation) grice v. and n.
1968Scarborough Mercury 26 Sept. 1/3 The uninitiated is not likely to know what a ‘gricing session’ is, but the hardened railway enthusiast will tell you..that it is when enthusiasts go 100 miles or so to capture locomotives forever on a roll of film. 1971Railway Mag. Apr. 196/2 The Greater British Gricer is on the grice. 1976Ibid. Aug. 434/1 (Advt.), Swiss transport extravaganza inc. six special steam trains, paddle steamers, ‘tunnel grice’, vintage saloons on Rhaetian Railway. 1977Eagle (Cambr. Univ. Railway Club) iv. 10 (heading) A tale of end-of-term gricing—March 1977. 1984P. Beale Partridge's Dict. Slang (ed. 8), Grice or gricer, an engine-spotter... Also as v., to grice, to watch locomotives. |