Essential Travel Language

Some fun entries from Daily Candy's Travel Lexicon:

arm restle
n. the ongoing battle waged with your seatmate over the middle armrest. Maneuvers include elbogarting (slow advance of the elbow to gain ground) and recline and conquer (capturing the armrest during feigned or actual sleep).

flight dependent
n. neighboring passenger who, flying solo, turns to you in search of company/a drinking partner/a date.

gabbin pressure
n. sense of obligation to chat to the passenger next to you during a flight. (“I’m just recovering from gabbin pressure — I sat next to a real flight dependent.”)

John the Laptist
n. the guy in front of you who reclines his seat until his head is in your lap.

mathzheimer’s
n. the inability to calculate a foreign exchange rate without elaborate financial and/or tech support.

Screamese
n. The loud form of English used only to speak to foreigners. (Rather than learn a few rudimentary terms in Spanish, Harold preferred to ask for directions in Screamese.)

sluggage
n. Luggage that always seems to come out of baggage claim last. (I’ll get there later. Just waiting on my sluggage.)

touron
n. tourist + moron. (“Don’t even bother with the Louvre on a Saturday. It’s overrun with tourons.”)

U.S.O.
n. unidentified stained object; mysterious mark on hotel carpet or bedding.