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Surfing Trivia
Try taking the Wave
Knowledge Test.
Where did the oft-used
surfing term "kook" come from, anyway? The following
is taken from the Kooks
Museum, with permission
from the author:
Note on the origin of the word
"kook": a visitor to this museum (a surfer of the
non-web variety) maintains that "kook" is of Hawaiian
origin, and that the beatniks got it from the surfing culture:
It's fairly well-known in the
older segment of the surfing community that "kook"
is Hawaiian in origin (orig. spelling "kukai" (?)).
It means "shit" (n.); hence the derogatory connotations.
California surfers brought the term back from the Islands
in the 30's and 40's. Example: At San Onofre (along with Malibu,
one of the original surf spots in So. Cal.), there was a small
canyon above the surfing beach that was named "Kukai
Canyon." It was where everyone went to defecate in those
pre-outhouse days. The surfers used the term "kook"
to refer to newbie surfers lacking any surfing skill whatsoever.
Since there was some cultural interaction between the Beats
and the surfers in the 50's (e.g. the film It's a Mad, Mad,
Mad World for a fictional portrayal), this would explain the
transition of the term to your working definition. However,
it's possible that "kook as crackpot" and "kook
as inexperienced surfer" are two entirely separate and
independent uses of the word. I'd be interested to find out
if the two are indeed related.
And what of "cowabunga"?
The following is from The
Learning Kingdom's Cool
Word of the Day for April
3, 2000:
cowabunga [interj. kou-uh-BUNG-guh]
This slang word almost always
appears with an exclamation mark. It's an expression of amazement
at something really great that has happened. Example: "Cowabunga!
What a great wave that was!"
The example relates to one
of the ways this word was used in the 1960s, by surfers celebrating
good rides on the waves. Today, the word has been taken up
and popularized by the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Bart
Simpson, the popular cartoon character.
The word's history began with
a character on the old Howdy Doody Show, a children's TV show
that aired from 1947 until 1960. One of the characters on
the show was Chief Thunderthud, an indian chief who began
every line with the nonsense syllable "kawa." When
things went well, he said "Kawagoopa!" If things
went poorly, he said "Kawabonga!"
And "Eddie Would Go"?
The following is taken from "Legendary
surfer recalled by those who knew him best" (Wanda
A. Adams, Honolulu
Advertiser, Dec. 1, 2002):
Eddie Aikau biographer Stuart
Coleman says there are two stories as to how the "Eddie Would
Go" slogan and bumper sticker came about. One is that those
three blunt words were used by a supervisor of the city lifeguards
in describing Aikau's willingness to perform rescues in conditions
that would intimidate anyone else. The other is that famed
big-wave rider Mark Foo muttered the phrase, putting the cap
on a heated discussion of whether Quiksilver Eddie Aikau Memorial
Surf Contest should be held on a day when the waves were so
monstrous even big-wave riders were hesitant to paddle out.
You didn't think that was interesting,
did you? If you're a trivia buff or just bored, check out the
Land O' Useless Facts
or try the Totally
Trivia Search Engine.
Or, sample some of The
Straight Dope and see chaos theory in practice with the
Random
Factoid.
In Australia, usual Boxing Day
activities include surfing. Christmas comes in the middle of
summer. (Taken from UselessKnowledge.)
The following surfing tidbits
are from The Encyclopedia
FunTrivia, reprinted with permission:
The first official world surfing
championships were held at Manly, Sydney, in 1964 and won
by an Australian, Bernard "Midget" Farrelly.
A surfboard is slower than a boogie board. The boogie board
has an unlimited hull speed. The surfboard is limited.
The first life-saving club in the world was founded in Australia,
on Bondi Beach, Sydney, on 6-2-1906. It has since saved the
lives of many surfers.
Cymophobia is the fear of waves
or wave-like motions.
Hmm . . . wonder if there's a
name for the fear of big North Shore waves :-). But a phobia
is an irrational or inappropriate fear, and since huge North
Shore waves are truly life-threatening would such a fear be
phobic? Wow, guess i'm bored.
Had enough? If you want more
surfing trivia you can get on the Magic
Surfbus.
By the way, where are the best
beaches in the United States? That depends on whom you ask,
and according to The
Best Beaches in the USA
several of the finest can be found in Hawaii. (Duh.)
What's "parapraxis"?
According to the Grandiloquent
Dictionary, it's "[a] lapse of memory or a slip of
the tongue, usually revealing a hidden thought." In
the book,
Freud for Beginners, "parapraxis is the official
term for the famous ‘Freudian slip.' It refers to slips
of the tongue, pen or memory, which occur in normal life.
Errors
are symbolic of unconscious attitudes and wishes." (See
also, "Bush
Commits Parapraxis"
and The
Freudian Slip, Answers.com: parapraxis.)
Get
me outta here
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