(04 Aug 2015, 10:59 am)LeeCalder wrote I am fully aware of that, however, I don't like being referred to as a bus spotter because of the stereotypes that are attached to it. For that reason, I'd rather be labeled at Bus Enthusiast.
A bit like when I go to to get my train photos, most people around my age that do so HATE being called a train spotter. So do I, I am a train enthusiast.
But it doesn't deter from the fact that you are a bus/train-spotter.
I agree that 'spotters' do invoke a particular stereotypical image, but so do other hobbies. Simply changing the term from 'spotter' to 'enthusiast' won't do anything to dispel the image associated with the hobby. If anything, it makes people sound elitist because they seemingly look down upon 'spotters'.
The term 'spotter' wasn't a derogatory term originally. Back in the age of steam, when Ian Allen started printing lists of engines for people to 'spot', loads of people engaged with the hobby and didn't mind being called 'spotters'.