ELBONICS: \ell-BAHNN-icks\noun: The fierce battle between side-by-side riders to establish ownership of the space between them. [Adapted from Sniglets.]

Usage: The guy next to me on the 9:16 to the city was quite large, so the elbonics began pretty much right away.

These Google searches, among many others, brought people to Trainjotting this week. It appears our visitors like drinking on the train (cheers to that!), are more than a little obsessed with the secret platform in Grand Central, and aren’t above a little “naggling.”

sopranos commute

trainjotting.com (Editor’s Note: Yay!)

LAZY LIRR CONDUCTORS

new roc city riot

naggling

beer guy paid

“pete seeger” banjo 2007

sneak alcohol on lirr

secret bar lounge Grand Central Terminal

subway commute + India

Rich Hall’s Sniglets

lirr fake tickets

secret tunnel under grand central termin

i saw FDR’s secret train platform

train stop sudden jerk

It has come to our attention that we’re not the first to come up with glossary terms for railroad commuting. No, the Washington Metropolitan Transit Authority did this for an ad campaign 18 months ago. The Metro said: 

Sniglets–clever and creative words not found in your typical dictionary–will appear on signs placed in the space above the windows in Metrorail cars and Metrobuses. The messages will remind customers to plan alternate routes home, report suspicious items, offer seats to people who need them and not block train doors.

The release also states that the “sniglets“–a word coined by the very funny Rich Hall on Not Necessarily the News a few decades ago–were thought up by the Metro’s in-house ad agency, LM&O.

The weird thing is, while Trainjotting lacks the creative muscle of an in-house ad agency, our Words of the Week are much funnier.  (Granted, we’re not completely unbiased). We’re thinking it’s more about locales: in New York, you have to be very funny to be funny, while in our staid old nation’s capital–where everyone’s at work by 8, they’re all wearing suits, and finding a restaurant open past 9 can be quite difficult–the funny bar is set much lower.

The Metro’s sniglets:

PlanBdextrous: (plan-bi-dek-stres) adj. able to plan an alternate route home in case Metro is inaccessible due to unforeseen circumstances.

Sumpnspicious: (sump-en-spish-es) n. unattended package or odd, unusual behavior that is reported to a bus driver, train operator (via intercom at end of rail car), station manager or Metro Police at 202-962-2121.

Conseaterate: (ken-set-er-it) adj. thoughtful toward others who are more in need of a Metrorail or Metrobus seat.

Doorker: (dor-ker) n. person who crowds or blocks Metro doors, making it difficult for others to exit or enter promptly.