gunzel
/ˈɡʌnzl̩/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 0.00 in modern English
16
Scrabble Score
6
Letters
2
Syllables
6
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A railway or tram enthusiast; particularly (formerly derogatory) one who is overly enthusiastic or foolish.
Australian usage
Example Sentences
- "'There're people who have an intellectual impairment,' he said, 'and studying trains seems a natural thing for them to gravitate to. And then there're people who have more of a hobby-style interest in it.' […] He feels gunzels are misunderstood by the outside world …"
- "[L]ike many model train enthusiasts, he now takes some pride in being called a foamer, or a gunzel, or even a gricer – all names for those who enjoy model trains."
- "He loved the job and for him the job was his life. He wasn't a gunzel [tram obsessive], he was far more interested [in] his passengers."
- "Marcus Wong, a self-described gunzel (rail obsessive) and engineering geek, conducted his experiment in two stages – timing the hybrid Metcard/myki barriers in June and again last week with the new myki-only gates that have replaced them."
- "At 2.27am when it slows to a halt at Bendigo railway station for a crew change, two young gunzels (rail fanatics) are waiting with cameras on the platform alongside the crew."
- "Los Angeles is "the city of angels". And Melbourne? Well, Melbourne should be the "city of gunzels", says former tram conductor Roberto D'Andrea."
Etymology
Origin uncertain; possibly from gunsel (“stupid or contemptible fellow, creep; young man kept for homosexual purposes, catamite”), from Yiddish גענדזל (gendzl, “gosling”), from Middle High German gensel, diminutive of gans (“goose”) (compare German Gänslein (“gosling”), from Gans (“goose”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰh₂éns (“goose”)). There is an unverified suggestion that the word was first used in the 1960s by staff of the Sydney Tramway Museum in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, to describe shabbily dressed trainspotters. They were apparently influenced by the word gunsel (“a gun-carrying hoodlum”), which had been popularized in the film The Maltese Falcon (1941) based on the 1929 novel of the same name by American author Dashiell Hammet (1894–1961).
Origin
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈɡʌnzl̩/
- British English: /ˈɡʌnzl̩/
Usage
- Australian usage
- American usage
- Intransitive verb