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Bennie refers to New Yorkers and the train stops ( Bensonhurst etc) on the way to the shore.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mightyqueen801
I heard it was that the train line ran Bayonne, Elizabeth, Newark and the acronym formed the basis for the term. Bensonhurst is in Brookyn, and I don't really see Brooklynites coming to New Jersey beaches when the Rockaways would have been a subway ride away.
I heard that the term "Bennies" originated because the most obnoxious beach-goers were abusing Benzedrine and/or other types of amphetamines, also known as "speed".
I've been visiting the Ocean City boardwalk (and some other more northern ones) after Labor Day, my picture even made the OC newspaper in the latter part of 2017 (although I didn't like how it came out lol) while the boardwalk replacement project was going on.
That’s cool! Was it the Gazette or the Sentinel Ledger? I was in the Sentinel Ledger once years ago for being in a weightlifting contest, lol. Labor Day used to be my favorite holiday when I lived there. I used to drive home from work on Labor Day from the north on the first empty roads since May, and the other side would be bumper to bumper with people headed back home. I’d secretly say “bye Shoobs!” as I looked at the throngs leaving the shore.
I heard that the term "Bennies" originated because the most obnoxious beach-goers were abusing Benzedrine and/or other types of amphetamines, also known as "speed".
Quien sabe?
I have never heard that. I think both terms are quite old, way before recreational drug use was that common. Here’s The Wikipedia page for it. The explanation they use is the one I heard but I was wrong about Bensonhurst:
“One common theory says the term originates from an acronym that was stamped on the beachgoers' train tickets, representing the city in which they boarded the train to the Jersey Shore: Bayonne, Elizabeth, Newark, and New York City.”
They also offer an alternative theory that it came from wealthy New Yorkers flashing hundred dollar bills down the shore (Ben Franklin/Benny). The first is the one I always heard though.
That’s cool! Was it the Gazette or the Sentinel Ledger? I was in the Sentinel Ledger once years ago for being in a weightlifting contest, lol. Labor Day used to be my favorite holiday when I lived there. I used to drive home from work on Labor Day from the north on the first empty roads since May, and the other side would be bumper to bumper with people headed back home. I’d secretly say “bye Shoobs!” as I looked at the throngs leaving the shore.
In south Jersey they’re Shoobies, supposedly because they came on the train from Philly with their lunch in a shoe box. Bennie refers to New Yorkers and the train stops ( Bensonhurst etc) on the way to the shore.
I heard it was that the train line ran Bayonne, Elizabeth, Newark and the acronym formed the basis for the term. Bensonhurst is in Brookyn, and I don't really see Brooklynites coming to New Jersey beaches when the Rockaways would have been a subway ride away.
I never actually heard the term until I was an adult, though, because I didn't live down here then.
Benny is a pejorative term used by year-round residents of the Jersey Shore Towns to describe stereotypically rude, flashy, loud tourists from North Jersey and New York.
This has been the definition that I have known since the late 50's.
Benny is a pejorative term used by year-round residents of the Jersey Shore Towns to describe stereotypically rude, flashy, loud tourists from North Jersey and New York.
This has been the definition that I have known since the late 50's.
It’s the origin we were talking about not the definition. Your description is from the same Wikipedia page I posted the link to (you forgot to use quotes though). The origin is farther down on the same page.
We all know Benny and Shoobie are slurs used by locals, we are talking about where the names came from.
Benny is a pejorative term used by year-round residents of the Jersey Shore Towns to describe stereotypically rude, flashy, loud tourists from North Jersey and New York.
This has been the definition that I have known since the late 50's.
Um, YEAH, that's been established, but we were talking about the ORIGIN of the term.
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