Some 200 entries already have been posted at www.addictionary.org, an online dictionary of made-up words. They include the obvious mash-ups ("skiboarding," "sniing") along with such broader terms as "downhilling" and "snowcarving." I prefer the more abstract ones like "flaking," although I always thought that word meant something else, as in, "Dude, I'm sorry I forgot your wedding but I totally flaked."
The winner will receive a Utah ski vacation - excuse me, a ski-snowboard vacation (see? - it is awkward!) in April. My favorite entry so far is "powdersexual," defined as "one whose love for both snowboarding and skiing are of equal measure." The contest is co-sponsored by Winter at Westminster, the college's spring-semester program that mixes skiing/boarding with boring ol' indoor classes that everyone skips when it snows.
As someone who uses words for a living, I applaud this effort to bridge the great skier/snowboarder divide. I even offer my humble suggestions:
Hucking - as in "hucking" oneself down the mountain.
Hurling - see "hucking." Also refers to what skiers do after pounding peppermint schnapps on the lift.
Shredding - I know, I know, it's a boarder term. But skiers can shred, too, can't they? No? Oh, never mind.
Planking - because either way you're sliding downhill on a wood/fiberglass plank thingy.
Yard Sale-ing - as in, "man, you wiped out so bad that it looked like a yard sale." See "Griggs, Brandon- skiing."
Cheatin' death - OK, maybe I'm exaggerating here, but some of those triple-black diamond chutes are friggin' scary. Besides, I want to hear conversations like this: "What'd ya do this weekend?" "Oh, not much. Cheated death."
Biing - pronounced "bee-ing," like boarding/skiing. Sounds like "peeing," though.
Cops and robbers: The wallet-busting $200 tickets for the July 19 Police/Elvis Costello show at USANA are sold out, forcing late-buying fans to consider paying $90 (for the third seated section) or $40 (for the lawn). Then again, there's always the scalper route. Someone with a lot of nerve is hawking sixth-row Police seats on StubHub.com for $1,763 each. Good luck with that, buddy.
griggs@sltrib.com
