The Climbing Dictionary by Matt Samet includes a fantastic term that can be used by non-climbers as well: high gravity day, a day when all routes, even easy ones, seem impossible due to a seeming increase in gravity. This is part of a complete episode.
Transcript of “High Gravity Day”
A friend sent me a climbing dictionary by matt samet or samet s-a-m-e-t it’s just called climbing
Dictionary put out by mountaineers books and there’s a couple things that interest me about
This book the first one being i’m surprised by how much french has contributed to the jargon of
The english-speaking world when it comes to climbing oh that makes sense rock climbing the
Handholds and the equipment that sort of thing some of them are really fun this one is my favorite
I may actually steal this for non-climbing experiences.
It’s a high-gravity day, and the definition is a sub-desirable day on which all routes, even easy ones, feel impossible due to an ironic hypothetical increase in gravity.
Oh, my gosh.
That’s totally applicable to life.
Yeah, today’s where you wake up and be like, oh, why does everything seem so hard today?
Blame it.
Oh, high-gravity day.
Yes.
Yes.
That’s a great one.
High-gravity.
And there’s a ton of fun stuff in here.
I love the ones where they talk about physical features in a non-obvious way, like a chicken head.
Any idea what a chicken head is?
Is it a rock formation?
It is, yeah.
So it’s a little kind of lump of rock that for some reason didn’t erode away.
Maybe it’s made of a different material.
And it sticks out like a chicken head, and you can use it as a handhold.
Oh, a chicken head.
Yeah, of course.
So it’s one of these natural occurring handholds, right?
Oh, of course.
I like that, yeah.
Yeah, and then dirtbag, which is not a very nice term for somebody who’s really into climbing.
So this is The Climbing Dictionary by Matt Samet, S-A-M-E-T.
Let us know the slang from your workplace or pastime, 877-929-9673, or send it an email.
That address is words@waywordradio.org.
