gallery rage

gallery rage
n.
Extreme anger displayed by an art gallery patron when a visit is marred by huge crowds or rude gallery staff.
Example Citations:
Gauguin: Maker of Myth has drawn what is thought to be a record number of visitors to a Tate exhibition, but many of them left the building in a state of what one prominent art critic called "gallery rage". The crowding in front of the paintings on display was so bad, according to angry art fans and critics, that they have vowed never to go to such a big show again.
—Vanessa Thorpe, " 'Gallery rage' mars the Tate's record-breaking Gauguin show: http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2011/jan/16/gauguin-tate-modern-crowds," The Observer, January 16, 2011
First road rage — now 'gallery rage'. The hushed marble foyer of the British Museum was disrupted last week, as more than 20 sightseers staged a sit-in protest against rude staff. A fracas erupted after the group were ejected from the Forgotten Empire exhibition by museum workers so intent on leaving by 5.30pm that they jumped in front of artefacts and shouted to drown out the exhibition's audio tour.
—Richard Kay, "Diary," Daily Mail, October 10, 2005
Earliest Citation:
Unfortunately, the show is almost impossible to look at. It feels as though there are as many visitors crammed into the Sainsbury Wing galleries as there were people in Florence at the height of the Renaissance. This is how exhibitions often are now frustrating, wearying, ultimately dispiriting. It isn't the art's fault. Museum curators work with objects and documents and histories, loan forms and lighting, finely tuned sight lines, contrasts and dialogues between exhibits. All this is lost amid the crowds, attempting to devour as much as they can of the show while trying to suppress the gallery rage just below the surface.
—Adrian Searle, "Gods of small things," The Guardian, November 2, 1999
Notes:
I haven't highlighted a rage phrase in quite a while. In fact, my last one was checkout-line rage, which I posted to Word Spy five years ago to the day. The template for all such phrases is, of course, the famous road rage, which first appeared around 1988. Road rage itself is fascinating in a sociological, sign-of-the-angry-times way, but it's also interesting when turned slightly and looked at from a linguistic angle. That's because the popularity of the phrase road rage made it extremely fertile, spawning dozens of X rage angers, from air rage to zoo rage. Think of a noun, add the word rage to it, and you've no doubt come up with a type of anger that somebody, somewhere has felt, although probably not yet written about. See the "Related Words" list, below, for a few of the rages that have made the leap to print.
Related Words: Categories:

New words. 2013.

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Look at other dictionaries:

  • rage rage — n. Anger directed at people who commit acts of road rage, air rage, and so on. Example Citation: It is important that we are not drawn into the trap of believing that conditions such as road rage , air rage and now computer rage exist in their… …   New words

  • checkout-line rage — n. Extreme anger caused by a perceived wrongdoing or a lengthy wait in the supermarket checkout line. Also: checkout line rage, checkout lane rage. Example Citations: The sin of anger has splintered into so many sub sections (think road rage,… …   New words

  • air rage — (AYR rayj) n. An airline passenger s physical or verbal assault of crew members or other passengers. Example Citation: Three [passengers] helped to pin down and handcuff [another passenger] after he threatened to kill the pilot and headbutt a… …   New words

  • road rage — (ROHD rayj) n. Extreme anger exhibited by a motorist in response to perceived injustices committed by other drivers. road rager n. road rage adj. Example Citation: Other research, which analyzed more than 10,000 road rage incidents, reported that …   New words

  • work rage — n. Extreme workplace anger exhibited by an employee who has been mistreated or fired. Example Citation: Not all the rage happens on the road, spewed by people making their way to and from work. Social scientists are measuring air rage in the sky …   New words

  • IT rage — (eye.TEE rayg) n. Extreme anger directed at computers and technology, particularly as a result of frustrations caused by a company s information technology policies or staff. Example Citation: In focus groups, we were repeatedly told about… …   New words

  • hedge rage — n. Extreme anger or aggression exhibited by a homeowner in response to a neighbor s massive or overgrown hedge. Example Citations: It s hardly surprising that high hedges are the thorny issue of many neighbourly disputes. Now SNP MSP Mark… …   New words

  • wrap rage — n. Extreme anger caused by product packaging that is difficult to open or manipulate. Also: wrapping rage. Example Citations: The crucible of wrap rage is, of course, the CD. It was universally repackaged in 1992, its old cardboard box replaced… …   New words

  • zoo rage — n. Extreme anger or aggression exhibited by a zoo animal towards zoo visitors. Example Citation: An angry chimp fired stones at zoo visitors after being wound up by teasing crowds. Mithu Mondal, 30, and her six year old daughter Nikita were hurt… …   New words

  • Web rage — n. Extreme anger caused by World Wide Web frustrations such slow downloads, nonexistent links, and information that is difficult to find. Example Citation: Stress management consultants have identified a new phenomenon as more people using the… …   New words

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