The term Titanorak has been around for a few years, but recently gained prominence thanks to its use by UK author and screenwriter Julian Fellowes, who wrote a TV drama series about the Titanic timed to coincide with the centenary and which aired on British TV in March/April 2012. It’s a blend of the proper noun Titanic (based on the adjective titanic meaning ‘extremely large or powerful’) and the British English noun anorak in its informal sense of ‘someone who is very interested in something that most people think is boring or not fashionable’. The word anorak first came into English in the 1920s, derived from the Greenland Eskimo word anoraq, and referring to a thick waterproof jacket with a hood. The informal sense used in Titanorak first appeared in the 1980s, and relates to the anoraks worn by ‘trainspotters’, who came to be regarded as a typical example of someone who is obsessively interested in something that most other people think is boring. Anorak in this sense has rather negative overtones, conjuring up images of unattractive individuals, usually male, with unappealing personalities. Though Titanorak was quickly seized upon by the media as a catchy way to characterize Titanic enthusiasts when reporting on events connected with the centenary, the negative connotations of anorak have meant that the term has had a mixed reception amongst those who have a more serious interest in the topic.