different between gunzel vs railfan

English

Etymology

Origin uncertain; possibly from gunsel (“stupid or contemptible fellow, creep; young man kept for homosexual purposes, catamite”), from Yiddish ??????? (gendzl, “gosling”), from Middle High German gensel,diminutive of gans (“goose”) (compare German Gänslein (“gosling”), from Gans (“goose”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *??h?éns (“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).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation, General American) IPA^(key): /???nzl?/
• Hyphenation: gun?zel

Noun

gunzel (plural gunzels)

1. (Australia) A railway or tram enthusiast; particularly (formerly derogatory) one who is overly enthusiastic or foolish.
2. (Australia, by extension) An enthusiast or geek with a specific interest.
3. (US) Alternative spelling of gunsel.

Synonyms

• (railway or tram enthusiast): ferroequinologist (humorous, nonstandard), foamer, railfan (US), trainspotter

Verb

gunzel (third-person singular simple present gunzels, present participle gunzelling, simple past and past participle gunzelled)

1. (intransitive) To engage in railway enthusiast activities.

References

Further reading

• railfan on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

English

Etymology

From rail +? fan

Noun

railfan (plural railfans)

1. (US) A railway enthusiast.

Synonyms

• ferroequinologist, gunzel (Australia), railbuff, trainiac (informal), trainspotter

Derived terms

• railfanning