rubbernecking
Sign in to savethumb|During fire fighting, onlookers must be kept at a safe distance for health reasons, especially to avoid poisonous gases. thumb|Čumil, the rubbernecker of Bratislava Rubbernecking is a term primarily used to refer to bystanders stopping previous activity to stare at accidents. More generally, it can refer to anyone staring at an object of everyday interest compulsively. The term rubbernecking derives from the neck's appearance while trying to get a better view, that is, craning one's neck.
~3 min read
Article
6 sectionsContents
- Etymology
- Rubbernecking and the automobile
- Prevention
- See also
- References
- External links
thumb|During fire fighting, onlookers must be kept at a safe distance for health reasons, especially to avoid poisonous gases. thumb|Čumil, the rubbernecker of Bratislava Rubbernecking is a term primarily used to refer to bystanders stopping previous activity to stare at accidents. More generally, it can refer to anyone staring at an object of everyday interest compulsively. The term rubbernecking derives from the neck's appearance while trying to get a better view, that is, craning one's neck.
Rubberneck is associated with morbid curiosity. It is often the cause of traffic jams, sometimes referred to as "gapers' block" or "gapers' delay", as drivers slow down to see what happened in a crash. Rubberneck is considered as of 2007 unconventional English or slang.