Dogs, dogs everywhere.

[Wizard of Oz]

.. Chris I can sense your confusion .. it is another of those glorious British expressions that so aptly describe both the person and the situation .. have a look here to get a feel of why Phil feels he is turning into an anorak ..

WoZ doing a bit of train spotting

[trolley]

I was thinking the same thing. My family always called hooded sweat shirts "anoraks". All my friends looked at me like I had two heads. Everyone else called them kangaroo jackets. Now they're hoodies (and much more sinister)

[Wizard of Oz]

Everyone else called them kangaroo jackets. Now they're hoodies (and much more sinister)

.. kangaroo jackets ???? .. how cute .. did they have little ears on the hood .. *grin* .. and more sinister I agree .. has been a local controversy over a large Shopping Centre banning kids from wearing their hoods up when inside the Centre .. came from vandalising and graffiti (or is it 2 t and 1 f) attacks by kids with hoods up to thwart the CCTVs ..

WoZ who was a hood

[trolley]

They were all pull-overs back then. The kangaroo link was that pouch-pocket in the front. It was a great design to keep your hands (or a Joey) warm, but not very safe for smokes or money. Come to think of it, we never actually wore the hoods. They were just for decoration. Only the dorky kids put their hoods up.

trolley, not dissin' the local gang

[Phil White]

Yes, WoZ's link just about says it all. I selected these two that seem to me to best sum up what an "anorak" is:

It is a disparaging term for someone who goes trainspotting, can tell you when each episode of Star Trek was originally broadcast, and has no friends other than fellow 'anoraks'. This is their chosen outergarment, whatever the weather, and they always still live with their mothers. They can quote 'Red Dwarf' scripts vebatim, and know all the boring and unimportant stuff about how computers work.

... The term comes from the deeply unfashionable plastic anoraks of the 70s and 80s, which supposedly people who obsess about such subjects would wear. (Since they're into "sensible" clothes and not fashion).

The total lack of any fashion sense is crucial to the connotation of the word.

And, of course...

I don't believe it...only one day on the site and 10 people fell for this question. 10 anoraks.

Most of us here are dangerously close...

[Phil White]

Oh, and anyone who starts a sentence with "did you know..." is a prime suspect, particularly if delivered in a sort of nasal whine as if the speaker had enlarged adenoids.

[christinecornwall]

I would like to see what an anorak (the garment) looks like. I, having no fashion sense, will undoubtedly want one LOL! In the U.S, we have a popular sitcom "The Big Bang Theory" featuring several anoraks, the most adorable one being named Sheldon

[Phil White]

Have a look here. The type shown right at the bottom (beige) is the type I'd associate with proper trainspotters.

[Ken Greenwald]

I noticed there was a previous posting (2005) on anorak and so I have merged the relevant parts of this discussion with that one.
______________________

Ken G (a.k.a Forum Moderator) – June 25, 2010 (I have met the anorak and he is I!)

[Ken Greenwald]

Not that the ANORAK and ANORAKY have not been dealt with sufficiently above, but for folks who don't want to bother going back to the older posting and would like to see here what the Oxford English Dictionary had to say on the subject, here it is:
__________________________________

Here’s a bit more on that other meaning of ‘anorak,' which appears to be a strictly British English usage.

OXFORD ENGLISH DICTIONARY

1) ANORAK noun [1934] [Greenland Eskimo.]: A weatherproof jacket of skin or cloth, with hood attached, worn by Eskimos; a similar garment in countries other than Greenland.

2) ANORAK slang (derogatory) [1984]: A boring, studious, or socially inept young person (caricatured as typically wearing an anorak), especially. one who pursues an unfashionable and solitary interest with obsessive dedication. Also attributive.

<1984 “At weekends boatloads of Dutch ‘anoraks’—pirate radio fans—come out to cheer on their latest hero.”—Observer (London), 5 August, page 5/3>

<1988 “An anorak is one of those boring gits who sit at the front of every lecture with their Pringle jumpers asking the lecturer their clever questions.”—Dictionary of Contemporary Slang (1991) in T. Thorne, page 10>

<1991 “Enthusiasts who hang around the radio station, anxious to fetch and carry, answer phones, and do any amount of unpaid work simply to be involved . . . [are] sometimes disparagingly referred to as ‘anoraks.’”—The Independent(London), 14 November, page 26/3>

<1991 “A guide to over three thousand blues records. Essential for scribblers and anoraks.”—Straight no Chaser, Winter, page 11/3>

<1993 “The one difficult part of Demon's system is the software, which, while inexpensive and reliable once you've got it going, is archetypal anorak software.”— Personal Computer World, April, page 390/2>

<1995 “The Beatles have almost become an obsession. I try to get studio out-takes and rare records, I'm almost anorak level about it—getting really excited if I can hear John Lennon cough.”— voXpop by J. Miller, xii. Page170>

ANORAKY adjective (British slang) depreciative: Boring, overly studious, unfashionable, or socially inept; specifically displaying obsessive or fastidious concern with the details of a hobby or special interest; ‘nerdy’. Cf. ‘anorak’ noun:

<1992 Guardian 4 Apr. 20/5 “‘Ugh!’, he shudders, as an excessively anoraky couple goes past, arms around one another's waists.”—The Guardian (London), 4 April, page 20/5>

<2000 “Now we've cut the meandering middle bit out of it, your letter is no longer too long or anoraky to publish.”— Arena, 21 July, page 21/1>

2004 “Definitely another one of those curiously English labours of love undertaken by anoraky enthusiasts.”—Footprint England (edition 2) by C. Godfrey-Faussett, page165>

also ANORAKISH adjective

(all quotes from the Oxford English Dictionary)
______________________

Ken G – February 13, 2005 (resubmitted here on June 25, 2010)

[Erik_Kowal]

<2000 “Now we've cut the meandering middle bit out of it, your letter is no longer too long or anoraky to publish.”— Arena, 21 July, page 21/1>

I would have done that with this thread but for the fact that none of it would have survived.

;-)