Speakur

Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

grockle

Word Rarity Very rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 0.00 in modern English

Syllables
grock-le
IPA
14
Scrabble Score
7
Letters
2
Syllables
7
Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

A tourist from elsewhere in the country

British usage; Slang

Example Sentences

Etymology

The origin of the word is uncertain. A derivation has been suggested from the eponymous dragon-like creature in the obsolete The Dandy comic strip "Jimmy and his Grockle", based on an earlier strip, "Jimmy Johnson's Grockle", in The Rover comic in the 1920s, somehow leading to use in the present sense in the movie The System (1964). It is doubtful that the word's use in the West of England goes back farther than that. Eric Partridge's A Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English also refers to the film The System but suggests another derivation, that holiday visitors in Torbay were compared to little clowns, and Grock (1880–1959) was a famous clown at the time. A more straightforward derivation is 'grackle' an old term for the jackdaw, from the Latin graculus. It is apposite when considering large numbers of visitors noisily flocking to their holiday destinations.

Usage

Inflected Forms

grockles (plural) grockel (alternative)

Derived Forms

caravan

Phrases

grockle art pictures for selling to grockles grockle bait cheap arcades grockle box and grockle shell grockle can a tourist bus grockle catcher

Frequently Paired Words

emmet overner similar term used by residents of the Isle of Wight used more to refer to non-natives who have moved to the island to live work. “I’ve lived here 20 years but I’m still seen as an overner”

Questions

What does grockle mean?
A tourist from elsewhere in the country
Where does grockle come from?
The origin of the word is uncertain. A derivation has been suggested from the eponymous dragon-like creature in the obsolete The Dandy comic strip "Jimmy and his Grockle", based on an earlier strip, "Jimmy Johnson's Grockle", in The Rover comic in the 1920s, somehow leading to use in the present sense in the movie The System (1964). It is doubtful that the word's use in the West of England goes back farther than that. Eric Partridge's A Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English also refers to the film The System but suggests another derivation, that holiday visitors in Torbay were compared to little clowns, and Grock (1880–1959) was a famous clown at the time. A more straightforward derivation is 'grackle' an old term for the jackdaw, from the Latin graculus. It is apposite when considering large numbers of visitors noisily flocking to their holiday destinations.

How to pronounce grockle

  1. Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “grockle”.
  2. Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling () so you know which sounds to aim for.
  3. Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “grockle”.
  4. Repeat and practice — Say “grockle” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.