The first use of the term to describe an obsessive fan has been credited to the radio presenter
Andy Archer, who used the term in the early 1970s for fans of
offshore radio, who would charter boats to come out to sea to visit the radio ships. In 1983, the first edition of the
Anoraks UK Weekly Report was published, featuring news of
pirate radio broadcasts. In 1984 the
Observer newspaper used the term as a
metonym for the prototype group interested in detailed trivia, the
trainspotters, as members of this group often wore unfashionable but warm
cagoules or
parkas called "anoraks" when standing for hours on station platforms or along railway tracks, noting down details of passing trains. ==See also==