Friday, March 26, 2010

touron

touron = tourist + moron

This one was new to me. I just came across it in Bob Fenster's The Big Book of Duh!, which, as the cover indicates, is a great one to keep in the bathroom. Fenster writes this:

If you're out on the ski slopes getting in the way of the good skiers, they might mutter that you're another touron, which means you're both a tourist and a moron. That's slightly better than being called a SPORE -- one of the Stupid People On Rental Equipment.

This might be a new one to me because I've only been skiing twice in my life, both times before I turned 16. I don't remember a whole lot about it except that I had a great time, except for all the falling down.

A quick search for touron reveals that it has been used by a number of people. It may even be near the "established" status of portmanteaus.

Oregonian H.R. Hognblog has posted a nice list of ten ways to tell tourists from tourons. My favorite is #6:

Tourons are everyone on the road NOT driving a Ford or Chevy monster truck, Subaru Outback or Biodiesel Mercedes Benz. Tourists coasted into town on fumes because they spent all their money on weed.