Travel Buzzwords That Must Be Banished

'Glamping', 'Minimoon' and 'Spatisserie' - 34 travel buzzwords that must be banished. Even in a world overwhelmed by cringe-inducing jargon, trendy acronyms and PR guff, where “moobs”, “YOLO”, and “hangry” are recognised by the Oxford English Dictionary, the travel industry stands out from the crowd as an unrivalled purveyor of extraordinary nonsense.

by Oliver Smith, The Daily Telegraph, October 19, 2017

editing by Earl of Cruise

Photo by Martin Barraud/OJO Images/Getty Images

The marketing managers in the travelindustry created over the years countless new stylish or contemporary words, which found their way into languages. But also they created wordings that create a fals image, e.g. by naming a simple stateroom a suite - a suite is consisting of more than two rooms divided by a wall and a door.
Or the wrong use of the term liner for a cruise ship. Or the wrong use of luxury, especially regarding a 3star or any other budget cruise vessel.

In Germany we have "handy´s" instead of mobiles, smartphones, cellulars, téléphone cellulaire or portable, or a mobile phone. It is quite rediculous to be frank. And this wrong word found its way into our DUDEN. These new words may be creative, but they are pure nonsense.
Finding this article and reading it, made me thinking of my own wordings ...

After all, it lumbered us with “glamping”, the “digital detox”, “voluntouring” and “minimoons” – all words that can only be spoken with a grimace.

It’s not just hip new companies spewing this tripe; the old establishment are at it too. Among the newest additions to the creaking cupboard of holiday buzzwords is "spatisserie", utilised by The Dorchester, which really ought to know better. This awful portmanteau describes a "uniquely named" and "luxurious yet informal" dining space attached to its spa, which serves "opulent" and "elegant" tea and cake. I’ve not yet had a cup of tea and a slice of Victoria sponge that warranted such adjectives, but I live in hope.

"Unique" is another word beloved in the travel industry - and almost always used erroneously. The good folk at THE DORCHESTER will be distraught to learn that "uniquely named" "spatisseries" can also be found at the CULLODEN Estate and Spa in Northern Ireland and Boringdon Hall in Dartmoor.

This week we were also introduced to the "Bleisure traveller", a dreadful mashing of the words "business" and "leisure" which describes people who do a bit of sightseeing during a work trip. It’s a new trend apparently. What utter twaddle.

Another relatively recent arrival was "flocation", used by a firm offering boating holidays (surely "bolidays"? To me it is evoking in first place a hint to Bollywood) to describe a domestic break (otherwise known as a "staycation" or "holistay") on water. Presumably some of these involve floating hotels (which we’ve been pained to hear called both "floatels" and "boatels").

Why must these perfectly adequate descriptions be shortened to something so tragic? Are we too bereft of time to speak in proper sentences? Even the single word “luxury” (which in itself has lost all meaning - even caravans have been given this adjective) has been shortened to the disgracefully lazy “luxe”.

We are living in times of TWITTER and short messages ... so we may degenerate to two-word-sentence-speakers ... some have reached that state allready - the nervous thumb in the Jungle Camp.

But we as homo sapiens developed the speach for the neccessary comunication, the interaction in social groups. And homo sapiens sapiens developed from the neccessaty literature.

Who’s to blame for this trend? To what address must the angry correspondence be directed? PR gibberish is nothing new, but the tendency to replace sensible English words with pigswill really went into overdrive after “staycation” first reared its ugly head. That was in 2009, when the global financial crisis and the weak pound made overseas holidays less affordable. The first recorded use of the word, however, has been attributed by Merriam-Webster researchers to a 1944 article in the Cincinnati Enquirer. "Take a Stay-cation instead of a Va-cation, this year," it suggested. A strongly-worded letter is now on its way to Ohio.

It would be another 65 years before “staycation” really entered the global lexicon, helped by tourist boards and newspapers across the planet, and hot on its heels came all manner of copycats. "Daycation" (a three-syllable description for a one-day holiday, ingeniously replacing the two-syllable "day trip"). Neighcation (riding horses). "Weighcation" (shedding timber). And more besides. Below is our list of banished travel buzzwords. If you find Telegraph Travel using them in anything but an ironic sense, feel free to direct that angry correspondence to us.

Staycation - domestic holiday
Holistay - ditto
Neighcation - horse-riding holiday
Daycation - a one-day holiday
Weighcation - dieting holiday
Gaycation - for LGBT holidaymakers
Mancation - think paintballing, tequila tasting and tickets to the F1
Brocation - same thing
Traincation - rail holidays
Spacation - spas in Britain
Dogcation - holidays with Fido
Momcation - er...
Floatel - a hotel on water
Flocation - a holiday on water
Bleisure - going to a museum after your big business conference
Bizcation - as above
Voluntourism - combining a holiday with charity work
Glamping - roughing it with little Hugo in a teepee
Babymoon - a holiday when you're ready to pop
Minimoon - the shorter of two honeymoons
Early-moon - a pre-wedding holiday
Buddymoon - why not take your mates along?
Weddingmoon - a wedding and honeymoon wrapped into one
Spatisserie - a restaurant in a spa
Wellness - just an awful word
Intuitive medical - this will be replacing "wellness" soon, we're told
Spafari - safaris combined with "wellness"
Doga - yoga with Fido
Cinetourism - visiting a destination associated with a film. A slum tour of Mumbai, for example, or "Hobbiton", in New Zealand
Jetiquette - how to behave on a flight
Flightseeing - viewing an attraction, the Grand Canyon, for example, from an aircraft
Digital detox - a holiday without your mobile, tablet or laptop
Twixmas - a short break between Christmas and New Year
Brokepacking - backpacking on a budget (wasn't that the point of backpacking?)

If you know of other "bright new wordings" please feel free to write them in the comment.

Comments

Ocean Liners in Movies or Films at Sea (updated Nov 2017)

For liners and the shipping companies movies and films had been a top marketing tool Movies or Films and liners at sea, had been intriguing me since I have read about in my youth in LUXUSLINER - BILDER EINER GROSSEN ZEIT by Lee Server ( THE GOLDEN AGE OF OCEAN LINERS ). But earlier, mot only since my first crossing, I was keen watching movies with liners in it, and disapointed, which was an understatement, when I realized the films have been made in a set ashore in some movie "factory". That was after my first crossing. by Earl of Cruise an essay in progress `Sabrina´, Humphrey Bogart in the office, while LIBERTÉ is sailing out of New York harbor - screenshot Ocean liners, especially those of the luxury category, had been the location of dramas, love stories, thrillers, suspense and catastrophies sinde film was born, or nearly. In this list, the most descriptions are taken from Wikipedia, as I guess no one can expect having seen all these films ... otherwise I w...

Destination - Capri, Dolce Vita and Legends - a cruise on board ANDREA

Capri filled with legends, over boarding beauty and Italian `dolce vita´ More than 190 years after the German painter August Kopisch's `discovery´ of the Grotta Azzurra in 1826, Capri ( it is pronounced `KAH pree´, with an accent on the first syllable ) is the most sophisticated island in the Mediterranean. The sound of its name evokes nostalgia, beauty and enthusiasm. And more so, each one of us can and will find its `own´ Capri. by Earl of Cruise Grotta Azzura on Capri - Source: Atlantide Phototravel © Corbis During a Mediterranean cruise from Barcelona to Venezia on board the yacht like ANDREA of ELEGANT CRUISES & TOURS one of the beautiful destinations has been Capri ... Early morning, approaching Capri - © Earl of Cruise Capri smells of sweet life, light moments, riches and pomp. It is the island of love and happiness. Capri is the place for yearning, dreams and wonderful craziness. Capri is a myths in the Mediterranean Sea, unique and tender,...

ss NORMANDIE 1935 - 1942 IX

s s / te NORMANDIE starting from cold Owners: COMPAGNIE GÉNÉRALE TRANSATLANTIQUE BUILDERS: PENH Ö ET, St. Nazaire, France by Stephen Carey © , editing by Earl of Cruise This document is almost exclusively about the engineering aspects of NORMANDIE , mainly on how to start her up from cold. If you are looking for photos of the passenger spaces, there is a plethora of them on the web, in Facebook groups - Admirers of the ss Normandie , ss Normandie photographic file , The French Ocean Liners / Les Paquebots Fran ç ais , ss Normandie , GREAT LINERS OF THE PAST & PRESENT , and others, Pinterest and in articles about NORMANDIE here in the blog, please see at the end of the article. Using "ss" for NORMANDIE is quite incorrect, as NORMANDIE was a Turbo Electric vessel and not a steamship, therefore NORMANDIE should be adressed as "te". by Earl of Cruise te / ss NORMANDIE berthed in Le Havre, Gare Maritime May 29th, 1935 - colouring courtesy ...

Heritage - ORIENT EXPRESS living history

The living legend ORIENT EXPRESS ORIENT EXPRESS, its name alone is evoking dreams and longings. Immediately one is remembered about Agathe Christie and her brilliant crime novel - ` Murder on the ORIENT EXPRESS ´ - and we see Hercule Poirot and the suspects. by Earl of Cruise Click here for luxury rail travel 2018 With the ORIENT EXPRESS to Venezia (Mit dem Orient Express nach Venedig) - still from a German TV documentation, PHOENIX When in 1883 the first Express train of a new formed luxury train company, founded by its brainchild Georges Nagelmakers, Paris left for, at first Giugiu in Romania, left, Mr. Nagelmakers may have dreamed, that his luxury express train should become the synonym for luxury, comfort and speed. And indeed the ORIENT EXPRESS turned into the Queen of Trains - often copied, but never outdone in its fame. Alone the destination, the Orient, was a place of longing and dreams. And that very train fulfilled those dreams within a short time. No ...

HISTORY - Traveling with airliner LZ 129 HINDENBURG was the most luxurious airtravel

The real airliner LZ 129 HINDENBURG enabled the most luxurious airtravel for decades. Imagine, gliding through the air while the landscape or the sea below can be seen ... LZ 129 HINDENBURG marks the climax of airship construction. On May 6, 1937, the story of civilian airship ended in a tragedy. In Lakehurst, New Jersey, the largest flying object and has been with the similar sized LZ 130 GRAF ZEPPELIN II the most luxurious of all time. How this came about can be reconstructed logically, a series of fatal physics concatenations . The airship LZ 129 HINDENBURG marks the climax of airship construction. It was in its time the fastest and most exclusive traveling object between Europe and America. The challenges of the construction of the giant of the heaven were immense. by Earl of Cruise LZ 129 HINDENBURG, 1936, in Lakehurst - digital copy of a coloured cover photo, originally by Bill Schneider, published in Dan Grossman´s book ` ZEPPELIN HINDENBURG: AN ILLUSTRATED HI...

Liners - Can classic ocean liners make a comeback

Classic ocean liners, crossing the oceans, had been for long time the only way to cross the seas. A comeback of ocean liners for real? When in 2010 the Islandic volcano Eyjafjallajökull did errupt, and all flights that would come near his ash-clouds had to be cancelled, people had been trapped on each side of the pond ... And immidiately all available cabins on containerships had been booked, cruise vessels sailing either to the Americas or Europe had been flodded by desperate travellers to get to their destination ... Going by ship was in those days the only way to cross. It did show a certain, but temporary neccessity of liner traffic. But unfortunately we did not have any longer a frequent crossing possibility by ship - Transatlantic liners, liners per se had gone, gone with the wind of history and technical progress in air flight. Is an ocean liner comeback possible? by Earl of Cruise rms QUEEN ELIZABETH 2 © Beken - own collection, copy from a postcard CUNARD held the ...

Heritage - Voyage of the Damned on St.LOUIS

St.LOUIS sailed in May 1939 with Jewish refugees to Cuba, a voyage known today as the VOAYAGE of the DAMNED. On May 13, 1939, the German liner St.LOUIS sailed from Hamburg, Germany, for Havana, Cuba. On the voyage were 937 passengers. Almost all were Jews fleeing from the Third Reich. Most were German citizens, some were from eastern Europe, and a few were officially "stateless". Basicly the journey was a fraud, set up by sinister Propaganda Minister Josef Goebbels and his staff, to showcase nobody is interested in wanting Jews among them ... and till a seeming bitter end the free countries played in the Nazis directed game as they wished ... by Earl of Cruise based on Holocaust Ecyclopedia´s article St.LOUIS, sister ship of MILWAUKEE, were motorships of HAMBURG AMERIKA LINIE which served on different lines for HAPAG, as well on cruises - collection Earl of Cruise The majority of the Jewish passengers had applied for Cuba tourist visas and US immigration vi...

The modern Black Gang

Stewardesses and Stewards are the modern " BlackGang " by Earl of Cruise Stokers on board USS MASSACHUSETS - source Wikipedia The men working in the bowels of the steamers had been named Black Gang. these where those men with the hardest labour - bringing the coal form the bunkers to the furnasses and filling them. This ardous labour became obsolete, when the steamer and turbine furnasses became oil fired - cleaner, fewer men and no longer heat and coal dust drenched air. The living conditions, when free from their shifts, had been similar ardous - cramped sleeping rooms, no light and less air, and few washing rooms and toilets. The loan was less than acceptable. Despite some some first class travellers made their way in these aereas, as into third class, to "slum a bit", for whatever their reasons may have been, or tipping the men of the Black Gang for harder work making a fast voyage. DAS TOTENSCHIFF , B. Traven, bying , In 1959 it was adapted int...

HISTORY - ss LA BOURGOGNE - Women and Children last

What had happend on sinking LA BOURGOGNE? Why had been so few women and children been rescued ? by João Martins , editing by Earl of Cruise ss LA BOURGOGNE - editors collection From our viewpoint of today we see this disaster of ss LA BOURGOGNE as one of egoism and the right of the stronger, with no "heroism", or stepping back for the weak to be saved. And we blame the crew for not doing their duty ... Are we allowed to judge? Are we allowed to chide? Are we alowed to claime it as typical ... for the seamanship of France - I have heard and read so! - ? No, we have not been on board. This tragedy is not the place to be chauvinistic! And looking in todays world we see a lot of chauvinism again and egoism! The ss LA BOURGOGNE was a 7,395 GRT French ocean liner built by the FCM in Toulon for the Transatlatic mail and passenger service of Cie. Gle. TRANSATLANTIQUE and completed in 1886. She was an iron and steel construction, 150 metres long, had two funnels an...

HISTORY - The Royal Mail Ship TAHITI

While researching for some Tahiti and French Polynesia related articles, I came across this Wikipedia article about a small, lesser known steamship, which served as a "mail boat" in the South Pacific - rms TAHITI . editing by Earl of Cruise Beside the big liners on the main routes, especially the North Atlantic, on "side routes", which had been and are important for the international trade, we find countless numbers of ships. These smaller, unimpressive ones are the back-bones of each shipping entity. Most of these vessels had been combined passenger and freight liners - so PORT KINGSTON, later TAHITI. For its last owner the vessel sailed across the Pacific from Sydney to California and back. rms TAHITI sailing the Pacific - Source: Wikipedia TAHITI was a 7,585 ton ocean liner operated by the UNION STEAMSHIP COMPANY OF NEW ZEALAND . Built in 1904 on Clydebank by the shipbuilders ALEXANDER STEPHEN & Sons , she was named rms Port Kingston until 1911....

Search This Blog

Thank You 500,000 readers