Beck Posted June 20, 2001 Posted June 20, 2001 Gemuttlichkeit! "Dieses rock ist "chossy" ist ser lame. Quote
AlpineK Posted June 20, 2001 Posted June 20, 2001 I don't have a huge problem with most of the words listed above as long as the speaker uses them in moderation. Nobody has brought up all the point words. Red point, pink point ect.. I think it would be more honest to say, "I couldn't get up the route without hanging." Also is it fair to say someone is a 5.14 climber, or should you say that guy likes to climb a lot of A0. Quote
Alpine_Tom Posted June 21, 2001 Posted June 21, 2001 quote: Originally posted by specialed: A revised description of a recent climb conforming to the politically-correct, anti-jargon atmosphere of this post: ... Excitement just eminates from the words, doesn't it. I guess I have a hard time seeing the point of this paragraph, in any of the three permutations. Is ANYONE really interested in a heartbeat-by-heartbeat account of someone else's climb? If so, then I guess jargon, and all sorts of neologisms like "sick sketch-fest" are inevitable. Really, though, spray (another bit of jargon, which is actually extended bragging, not attacking each other, the way the word's used around here)is mostly about beating one's chest, and impressing other climbers, rather like peacocks flaring their tails and rattling them at each other. After all, words are about communication. And words like "trad" "sport" "bouldering" and "big wall" actually convey information if, for instance, you're discussing your climbing tastes and abilities with a potential partner. Whereas quote: "Dude, I was fully in a backstep just camped on a dime, when the tweaker got too painful so I highsteped, used the drop knee and finally sent" is just self-advertisement and sounds silly. Quote
pope Posted June 21, 2001 Posted June 21, 2001 WILL: Beautifully stated. Felt like I was reading the Bible. Righteous, man! SPED: That sort of descriptive writing is adequately exciting and difficult to misinterpret (and infinitely more pleasurable to read than a recent R&I article on bouldering in New York). Finally, could we get rid of this "Angst" word? It translates from German as "fear", and the only thing I'm afraid of is the day when I can't find a cliff without chicken bolts. Quote
Dwayner Posted June 21, 2001 Author Posted June 21, 2001 Out of touch with the chatter the last day or so; the internet service in my ocean-view office here in España was out! (Yes, Mr. Pope, I'm sure you think I'm here at El Centro de Bettina Forda, drying out a bit, but au contraire, mon frere. Excuse the international posturing but I was inspired by all that "Allez!, Wir mussen sehr viel Bier trinken!, stuff up above....but never mind.... I return to read the latest and find truly excellent commentary: Mr. Willy Strickland: I was duly impressed and inspired by your lengthy exposition. Fantastic! Make sure you copy that somewhere. Develop it into an article for one of the rags or use it start a post on this list sometime around, or send it in as a letter to the rags...do something, m'man! Seriously!!! RE: "Choss" Anyone got the Oxford English Dictionary handy? (or is that "hinky"?) check da etymology (nothing to do wid insects) and see if the word has a history. It could be that climbers who come up with these words borrow and rarely create. - Dwayner Quote
nerdom Posted June 21, 2001 Posted June 21, 2001 WOW! Gotta second the approbation for Will's manifesto on traditional climbing (note that I didn't use "trad," in keeping with the original intent of this thread). A well-written and persuasive argument for the pre-eminence of traditional over sport. I recently met a sport climber from Texas in the Gunks who sport climbs 5.11. Yet he was climbing a classic 5.3 trad route, and balked at my suggestion that he give Horseman (a superclassic 5.5) a try. "Maybe some day," was his reply. That being said (and I wholly agreeing with everything in Will's argument in principle), we climbers of every persuasion -- trad, sport, aid, boulderers -- need to overcome our differences in order to preserve access for us all. We cannot afford to be divided into warring factions -- it is a recipe for defeat at the hands of those who would keep us -- all of us -- off the land. Quote
Dwayner Posted June 24, 2001 Author Posted June 24, 2001 Got a linguistic experiment for y'all, to see if and how a piece of jargon can be introduced into the climbing mileau. Here's the source of my inspiration. Believe it or not, a couple of nights ago I was a VIP at a Spanish beauty pageant (don't ask why..). It was quite spectacular. Loads of dramatic Vangelis music blasting from huge speakers while 50 dancing sea nymphs flittered about the stage and a fog machine spewed forth for several hours (last time I saw that much smoke, the Israeli army was bustin'-up a birthday party in East Jerusalem.). 14 girls aged sixteen to eighteen were gussied up to look like 30 year old burned-out American hookers, and there were more fireworks and explosions than a bad night in the upper Golan. (Never thought I'd watch a bathing suit competition and want the girls to put their clothes BACK ON!) Anyway, with my ringside seat at the stage and runway, I was well-entertained as various enthusiastic members of the audience yelled heartfelt, nearly hysterical cries of "guapa! guapa!" as each of the young ladies paraded by. (pronounced "gwa-pa" for you those of you not familiar with the Español, meaning beautiful/handsome). I started laughing my tail off and the people around me just assumed I was overcome with emotion like everyone else in the vicinity. So here's the plan...next time you're out at Exit 38, Vantage or some other sport-hell, and you see some poseur hanging off a bolt in a tight flaming lycra costume, miming a sequence, or doing the hair comb, give 'em a good old "guapa!!!" ("guapo" if it's a dude.) Say it like you mean it and let's see if the fresh faces from the climbing gyms diffuse the vocab. in the belief that it is some sort of new suave and continental addition to the terminology. (And it sounds even goofier than "Allez!") Can't wait to try it out; maybe I'll grab a sixer and hike up to Exit 38 when I get home. (Shaking your head with a tear in your eye and applauding with vigor can accompanying your shouts of praise for the full effect.) - Dwayner, still tired from the experience...The top Betty wasn't announced until 2 AM. Quote
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