ROD CURRIE
Hello, Collected Wisdom here, etymological sleuthing our specialty. This week, we're on the trail of a derogatory term that Canadians, or at least some them, use for visitors to parts of this fair land.
THE QUESTION: Patricia Dawkins of Calgary says she remembers friends working in Banff, Alta., during the 1960s and 1970s calling tourists "gorbys." Someone she knows who grew up in Canmore, Alta., in the 1940s and 1950s also recalls the term. How did it originate?
THE ANSWER: Well, to say that we received a variety of explanations for "gorbys" (or "gorbies") is putting it mildly. We'll start with this entry from Michael Kerr of Canmore, who says he wrote about the term in his book When Do You Let the Animals Out? A Field Guide to Rocky Mountain Humour.
"The origin was explained to me as follows," he says. "The slang term was coined by the wife of a Lake Louise businessman who thought the tourists she passed on the Trans-Canada Highway often looked bored, barren, soulless and devoid of life, so she called them 'Gobis' in reference to the Gobi desert, but the term got corrupted over time into 'gorbies.'"
Kate Soles of Victoria says it's a pejorative term that refers to a loud, vulgar and generally ignorant tourist. "There is some debate," she says, "about the origin of the term.
"Etymologist Bill Casselman," she writes, "claims that the word was born in the Muskoka region of Ontario, stemming from GORP (good old raisins and peanuts). 'Gorpy,' which later became 'gorby,' was used to make fun of yuppie campers carrying expensive equipment and pounds of trail mix."
"Not so, says Mike Leyne of Vancouver, who lived in Whistler, B.C., for several years. "Someone … told me it's an acronym for Guy (or Gal) On Rental Board(s). David Bird of Fernie, B.C., agrees - up to a point. He says it's an acronym for Geeks On Rental Boards. "Obviously, it is a derisive term for folks who may have the latest ski fashions on their back but limited ability on the slopes."
A final offering comes from John Clancy of Toronto. "As it was explained to me, the term 'gorby' for a tourist comes from the nickname for the Gray Jay - the Gorby Bird." He says these birds are loud and annoying. "Their heads are in constant motion," he writes, "looking everywhere, in all directions, never stopping long enough to take in the grandeur of Banff National Park. Combine loud, annoying and a head that swivels and tilts constantly, and it pretty well describes the stereotypical Banff tourist."
HELP WANTED
- Why do we use beef stock, chicken stock and vegetable stock but not pork stock? Amy Dickson of St. John's wants to know.
- Chris Chapman of Woodstock, Ont., writes: "My brother, a stained-glass artisan, added a touch of class to the cottage outhouse by installing a stained-glass window that incorporated a crescent moon, of course. How did the crescent moon become associated with outhouses?"
- Jackie Phillips of Toronto wants to know why, if you break a mirror, you're supposed to have seven years of bad luck.
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