![]() Grom (grommet): This word started out meaning a young surfer. I knew I ranked right up there with his college roommate. I just remember the first time my boyfriend (now husband) called me dude. Urban Dictionary defines it as “the universal pronoun.” Others say it’s a contraction of “dud” and “attitude,” used to describe arrogant city slickers playing cowboy in the West and wearing their city duds with attitude. A winning combination of “style and ease.” I want to live my life with stease (seriously).ĭude: Definitely old-school, yet “dude” never goes out of style. Stease (steeze, steezey, steasy, steasey): My new favorite word. Gaper Gap: The space on the forehead between the helmet (or hat) and goggles. Rather than trying to be exhaustive (and ending up exhausted), I’ll start this lexicon off and invite you, dear reader, to please add your favorite skiing words and phrases. Some of the words are relatively new, some quite old, some very trendy and some dusty with disuse. Talk about dusty from disuse.Īs the mother of two teenage boys, and as someone who spends a lot of time on chairlifts, in ski shops, and on snow, I’ve learned some skiing vocabulary. The definition of ski from an actual dictionary. One can be new at something, yet not be clueless, just as one can be a newbie, without being a gaper. So let me ask you: Clueless versus New? Same or different? In my mind they’re different. So, what is a gaper? According to Urban Dictionary, a “gaper is a skier or snowboarder who is completely clueless.” In defense of my journalist friend, let’s now look at the definition for “newbie.” Again from Urban Dictionary, “a newbie is a newcomer to anything.” “But everyone calls them SUPs,” I patiently explain. “It is so tiring to say the words?” he asks me. “Is it really so hard to say standup paddleboard?” he asks me, his voice dripping with derision at the laziness (or perhaps trendiness) of his mother. ![]() ![]() He cannot stand the acronym SUP, for stand up paddleboard. Our younger son is annoyed by something I say. Without fail (and to my great annoyance), when the Broncos were on offense the radio announcer would proclaim “Manning’s in the gun.” Yes, I know that this refers to quarterback Peyton Manning standing well back of the center to receive the ball in the “shotgun” position, but really, “the gun”? Annoying. We were driving a lot this fall while the Denver Broncos were playing. If it’s not your sport, you may not understand the language (or you may just find it annoying). Specialized Language or Slang? I like this page in the Children’s Dictionary.Įvery sport has specialized vocabulary, short-hand phrases, abbreviations and slang. His editor crossed it out and substituted the word “newbie.” My friend wasn’t happy and thus unleashed his finest persuasive and argumentative powers to explain his word choice. He had recently used the word gaper in an article. Last spring, I was talking with a ski journalist based in San Francisco. ![]()
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