Home UK English bridge-and-tunnel

Meaning of bridge-and-tunnel in English:

bridge-and-tunnel

adjective

informal US

  • (of a person) living in the suburbs and perceived as unsophisticated.

    • ‘a bridge-and-tunnel guy from Queens’
    • ‘He is a bridge-and-tunnel person, from Queens, in New York.’
    • ‘If this seems like a chauvinistic putdown of the bridge-and-tunnel crowd, you know they're up to far worse.’
    • ‘A straight bridge-and-tunnel guy unwittingly moves in with a gay man.’
    • ‘Tommy is a former bridge-and-tunnel guy, not a genius but smart enough to hold a job as a TV producer.’
    • ‘The crowd at the restaurant is strictly bridge-and-tunnel on boisterous weekend nights.’

Origin

1980s with reference to the routes used for commuting into New York.