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Glite Dictionary
bridge-and-tunnel crowd

bridge-and-tunnel crowd

1 9.3
People who travel into a city from outside to go out for fun
  • noun
  • /ˈbrɪdʒ ənd ˈtʌnəl kraʊd/
  • Offensive
translation icon : [OFENSIVO] suburbano
  • Many members of the bridge-and-tunnel crowd enjoy visiting the city on weekends to explore its entertainment options.

Examples

  • The bridge-and-tunnel crowd often brings a different perspective to the city's cultural events compared to local residents.

  • The bridge-and-tunnel crowd wasn't so ready or able to drop three grand on a layered cashmere sweater outfit.

    Fiction book (1994)

  • It's sort of like the bridge and tunnel crowd, right?

  • During the summer, the bridge-and-tunnel crowd fills the beaches, adding to the lively atmosphere.

Synonyms

commuter
vsbridge-and-tunnel crowd
116 2.5

A person who travels regularly between home and work, often to a city

focuses on leisure trips to the city rather than regular work journeys

How Urban

urbanite
5 4.1
bridge-and-tunnel crowd
  • Offensive
1 9.3
commuter
116 2.5
suburbanite
12 5.8

Surface Forms

bridge-and-tunnel crowd singular
bridge-and-tunnel crowds plural

Morphology

bridge-and-tunnel + crowd

The literal parts 'bridge', 'tunnel' and 'crowd' allow a learner to infer a group of people who come into the city via bridges and tunnels (i.e. outsiders/commuters), so the core locational/commuter sense is somewhat derivable. However, the expression carries a culture-specific, mildly pejorative social connotation (less sophisticated/leisure visitors) that is not predictable from the constituents alone, making the overall meaning only partially transparent to a B1 learner.

Etymology

Bridge-and-tunnel crowd comes from the picture of people who cross a bridge or go through a tunnel to reach the city for a night out. So it now means people who travel into the city from outside and are often seen as 'outsiders'.