And will make mainstream.
On a recent episode of the excellent podcast Pinch my Salt, endearing goofball cousins Sterling and Ryan Spencer hosted Jack Johnson. THE Jack Johnson. Yes, global superstar musician Jack Johnson. We presume most, if not all non-surfers may not realise Mr Johnson is a surfer first and foremost. That is not our point however. On the pod, Jack posited an intriguing thought: how do certain clichés, slang and colloquialism begin in the first place? And secondly, how do they eventually become part of the cultural zeitgeist.
It’s common knowledge that surfing like many so many sub cultures, has had several of its slang words and phrases enter the mainstream. Is that not super sick, and gnarly enough to be stoked, right Dude?! Yet even so, much slang is derived from still earlier origins. The word dude for instance has something to do with cowboys apparently. “Sick” as slang for something positive may well be from skateboard culture. These days “sick” is so prevalent as a positive one has to often clarify it has nothing to do with being ill. And then you go deeper into the rabbit hole, as ill is also slang for something radical from hip hop culture. Radical? See what we did there?! Nice!
The point we are making is, the cross pollination and melting pot of niche sub cultures gives way to underground slang entering the mainstream lexicon. Of course the internet has multiplied this to infinity. Anyway, back to Jack. Mr Johnson proposed the phrase “that’s what the babies eat” as a thought experiment. A phrase that is very specific, so one can trace the origins quite easily. In a nutshell, Trident is attempting the same. So, top five slang phrases/words invented by Trident. And will attempt to make mainstream.
We have come up with some very specifically worded surfing phrase. Let’s see how deep they penetrate modern vernacular. Or as Trident might say: “how deep you damage your fin boxes with a rubber mallet.” Beginning with:
Number 1: “Crystallises my earwax into diamonds.”
Trident invented this expression to indicate something arousing suspicion or interest in the speaker. For example, in a surfing context, some ou may overhear a conversation between two other surfers post surf session in the parking lot. One surfer claims to have been barrelled off his nut. The eavesdropper may then exclaim to his/her own surf buddy something like this: “The waves are 2 foot onshore slop so when okes speak of tubes in waves like that it seriously crystallises my earwax into diamonds, bru.”
Number 2: “Sweet-sour-salt enema.”
If you have never had a salt water enema in gnarly waves, have you ever even charged bro? Salt water in one’s exit hole after a gnarly wipeout can occur pretty often in solid surf. Yet, nobody has turned it into a phrase. To our knowledge. So we’ve kinda tweaked it to make it unique. What this phrase refers to is an experience that is pretty unpleasant – but ultimately good for mind and/or body and/or soul. As in: “Renewing my driver’s license was a serious sweet-sour-salt enema, but now it’s done and it’s such a relief Dude.” Eventually becoming SSS enema. Or SSSE.
Number 3: “I sold my gonads at a discount to my brain.”
This is something so crazy hardcore or gnarly you didn’t think it through properly at all. You just committed and sent it. “My bru, the waves were so big! Also it was so windy I couldn’t see a thing through all the spray. But I sold my gonads at a discount to my brain and took off into a ten foot air drop and snapped my board. Gnarly!”
Number 4: “The dolphins are cross-dressing.”
And variants thereof. This phrase refers to something unexpected, strange, bizarre and odd which also happens to be barely noticed. Sort of glitch in the matrix stuff. “I checked an overweight toddler doing a full rotation air in the shore break the other day. The dolphins are cross dressing big time bru!”
Number 5: “My farts smelled like coconuts.”
And variants thereof. This is a reaction of pure, unspoiled joy. “I was so deep in that tube I never thought I’d get out – but the wave spat me out! Okes, my farts were coconut scented for a month after that!”
