The rude word Cornwall locals have for tourists – it’s not a compliment

IF YOU EVER go on holiday in the South West, chances are you’ve been called this word – but maybe not to your face.

Meaning tourist, the term ‘grockle’ is like a codeword that locals have to describe ‘out of towners’ that get in the way or are disrupting their everyday lives.

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The slang word is used mainly by people from the West Country, particularly the coastal areas of Cornwall, Devon and Somerset.

It’s mostly thrown around in a dismissive way to describe visitors who are perceived as being overly touristy, intrusive, or ignorant of local customs.

While the term is no compliment, not everyone uses it so negatively.

Visitors might often be called a grockle in a lighthearted or playful manner.

While some deem it a term of endearment for visitors, others believe it is an offensive – even borderline racist – term that should not be used so freely in modern society.

So where does the word grockle come from?

Although it’s not certain where the term originates, one theory is that it’s based on the famous Swiss clown, Grock, who rose to fame in the ’50s.

It’s thought that a resident of Torquay remarked that visitors resembled little Grocks or ‘grockles’ because of their boorishness and clownish behaviour.

Another belief is that the word comes from a strip cartoon in the children’s comic Dandy called ‘Danny and his Grockle’ where the grockle was a dragon-like creature.

According to Devon Live, a local man is said to have used the term as a nickname for a small elderly lady who was visiting Torquay one season and it caught on.

The term became more well-known outside the South West in the ’60s due to its use by characters in the film The System, which is set in the Devon resort of Torquay during the tourist season.

However, grockle isn’t the only codeword used to describe tourists in the West Country.

The Cornish also have their own word for tourists: ’emmet’, which has much the same connotations.

Here are some other rude words for British tourists abroad.

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