h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I first moved to Torquay in 1991 and the term was in common usage then. Indeed it is a source of annoyance to the locals that roadworks are commonly stopped at the start of the Grockel season which means you are either delayed by cones or caravans.

Although born in the midlands, I was raised in Torquay. Therefore my family and I are known as "incomers" by the few hard-core "locals" (have they never watched "The League of Gentlemen"?). My Mum and Dad moved to Torquay to start a Hotel up, and the tourists were politely known as "Holidaymakers", which is the nice term used when the grockle is giving you money, and not clogging up the country lanes with caravans.

Grockles (it should be noted it is pronounced "graah'uhls" by Devonians) is reserved for conversations in which tourists are not involved, or when tourists are not wanted to be involved. It isn't *that* offensive really. I think the plagues of foriegn language students that descend upon Torquay every summer to be far more aggrivating and rude. Torquinians need to think up a term for them .

Ste