Thread: Trainspotting - Trainspotter

Hi mariacecilia

You are correct in that this is a UK slang term. It is not common in the US.

1. A person who can sucessfully identify obscure music a DJ plays. A hardcore trainspotter can take it a step further and identify the source of obscure samples.

2. someone who obsessively collects bits of useless information

see also: nerd

3. The term 'trainspotter' stems from exactly that......he who spots trains. A strange affliction. These are characteristically 30 - 40 year old men who still live with their mothers and quite possibly indulge in dubious sexual practices involving them. Gathering on station platforms in all weathers and wearing old anoraks and bobbly hats, they note the make, model and characteristics of each train that passes. Thus 'trainspotter' has come to mean any obsessed character who insists on talking about nothing but their chosen specialist subject. In my experience, the 'trainspotter' or 'pothouse' almost always manifests itself at the aftershow hospitality.
trainspotter as - "you are a trainspotting nutter" - In other words, someone who is psychological unstable.

http://www.urbandictionary.com/defin...r&defid=951958

Also:

(Adult / Slang)
A socially inept, anal retentive person who records useless information about trains; by extension, a person obsessed with an interest such as trainspotting.


http://www.definition-of.com/trainspotter

OK, I guess I am off base here but I'm not sure if you want to translate "trainspotter" from it's original meaning...a person who collects useless information about trains.
como aficiónado (obsesivo) de trenes.

or the newer meanings of

an obsessed person who acquires equally detailed and useless info about music or other subjects, who insists on talking about nothing but their chosen specialist subject or somebody who is considered boring because of his or her staid outlook, narrow interests, or unfashionable appearance.

To me it means una persona que habla solo de sus propias interéses; una persona obsesiva con personalidad pesada, aburrida o molesta.

There must be some Spanish slang terms for such a person, right?