Newsgroup: it.cultura.linguistica.inglese
Titolo: Exact meaning of anorak

In yesterday's Funday Times Mel C of the infamous Spice Girls when asked
about her collaboration with Bryan Adams and about whether she had to
familiarize herself with his work answered in the following way :
"Actually, I did think that originally.I thought I'd have to become a bit of
an anorak about him."
I have known for some time now that an anorak is no longer a  garment in the
English language but has become a term for defining people.
I thought it was referred to uptight intellectuals, often bespectacled and
buried in their studies about
ancient Greek.
Was I under a wrong impression ?
What are the contexts in which the world should be used ?
Ta
Sal

What are the contexts in which the world should be used ?
Sal, it means someone who is obsessively and tediously knowleadgeable
about a hobby or sport or subject, especially where by gathering this
knowledge they appear to have lost sight of its orginal simple
pleasures.
For example, a "football" anorak might gather huge amount of
statistics about a team while never bothering to go and see a match.
While I know you're not a football anorak, Sal, I wonder if you might
be a teeny weeny bit of a film anorak ... 
I believe it orginates with the hobby of trainspotting - because
trainspotters gather a lot of data on trains without necessarily ever
using them. And for some reason their outdoor wet weather gear - the
anorak - has become their trademark.
Yours teasingly,
Harry

pleasures.
Whops. Rings a bell...
-- 
Isa
Work like you don't need money,
Love like you've never been hurt,
And dance like no one's watching

 be a teeny weeny bit of a film anorak ...
Dear Harry,
What an understatement!
However, I believe the truth to be that our own  Salvatore is a
self-confessed British soap-opera addict which he intersperses with his
other activity, namely impersonating a couch potato. Rumour has it that he
excels at the
latter, but it would appear that of late, he has been absent-minded for how
else can
one account for various maladies and broken limbs with which he seems to
have
been afflicted?
Equally in jest,
I remain, as always, ecc., ecc.,
Bambi
dtb

other activity, namely impersonating a couch potato.
I was wondering if anybody could tell me whether it's possible to get the
English national channels in Italy.
I bought that...that...well, parabolica but I can only get the
international channels.
Thank you
Chrisa

 anorak - has become their trademark.
<<<How interesting !!!
Ta
Sal


   <Devi fare l'abbonamento alle pay tv Inglesi analogico o digitale.
Il mio (analogico) è scaduto ieri ed è costato un milione e seicento mila
per un anno .
Per questo prezzo puoi avere due canali di film di prima visione , uno di
film normali , uno di commedie giovanili, due di musica, alcuni di avventure
uno di DIY, uno di vecchi programmi BBC, uno di storia, uno di computer, uno
Disney , uno di telefilm americani recenti (tipo Simpson, South Park ), uno
di sitcom Paramount,uno con molte soap tra cui Eastenders e Coronation
Street e tanto altro ancora.
Io non l'ho rinnovato perchè non avevo soldi e poi un essere umano normale
non può guardare tutta questa roba in una sola giornata.
Ma se tu volessi tentare l'avventura scrivimi e ti darò l'indirizzo a lquale
rivolgerti.
(Naturalmente se ci sono altri pazzi che vogliono informazioni possono
scrivermi)
Resta solo da dire che per ricevere BBC normale e Channel Four abbonamento e
parabola devono essere digitali.
Yours
Sal

 latter
<< While I have recovered from my recent maladies my Sky subscription
expired last Sunday and due to financial difficulties I'm not going to renew
it.
     I'm a bereaved old lady getting just one fix of soap a day but as
Gloria Gaynor once announced "I will survive!".
I have recently bought a dvd player though , and I can watch films either in
English with Chinese subtitles
or in German with Finnish subtitles.
Somebody has told me I could also watch them in plain Italian with no
subtitles but that would be too easy, wouldn't it ?
Yours
Fruitcake Sal

English national channels in Italy.
I'm afraid you'd need a veeeeeeeeeeery long antenna cable. And someone
in UK with a spare plug.
Perhaps the digital satellites' friends can show me wrong.
cheers,
Peltio
HBD CC!

The world is full of little coincidences. Just last night on television
I heard a young lady (English) refer to herself as being a bit of an
anorak. This was in regards to using the computer. So we may all
possibly be described as anoraks.
But what a weird term. ;-) 
Cheers,
Loki

 subtitles but that would be too easy, wouldn't it ?
Dear Salvatore,
 Saddened as I am at the thought that financial considerations  have meant
the
cancellation of your subscription to Sky, perhaps we could pass the hat
around at our next raduno for your benefit. I feel quite confident in
predicting we ought to be able to scrape up at least 6,000 lire which should
go a small way towards ensuring that for the next year, you might be able to
return to your couch in utter contentment?
With regard to your  DVD player and the viewing options you are faced with,
as one whose
past is rooted in Asia, might I recommend the English with Chinese
subtitles? A purely personal suggestion, of course.
--
I remain, as always,
Bambi
dtb