Author Archives: Hannah Puente

“Tiller Towards Trouble”

My informant has been sailing since the age of 10. When she was first learning how to sail she was taught the phrase “Tiller towards trouble.” The tiller is the stick that controls the rudder, which controls the direction of the boat. Steering for children is one of the hardest tasks when learning sailing, as it is counterintuitive. When you turn the tiller to left you go right and vice versa.

When teaching kids, if they begin moving towards the dock, they are told to push the tiller that way as well, and they will begin to move away. Of course this is not soley used for children, it can be used for adults when they are first learning.

“Tiller towards trouble” is a simple phrase which uses alliteration, making it easy to remember. The use of the word trouble, a key word in a child’s vocabulary, adds to its memorability as well. Sailing is an activity that requires a bit of bravery as one must face the ocean, open water, waves, and wind. One must be brave to turn towards trouble, to learn how to avoid it, and in doing so, will become a better sailor.

“Blow the Guy” Sailing Jargon

My informant is a sailor, and has been since she was young. Sailing practically has a language of its own, and requires a full knowledge of the various parts of the boat before one can sail correctly. This is especially important in racing. My informant competes in sailing races for her university’s sailing team.

In a spinnaker boat (a spinnaker being a specific type of sail you use for downwind sailing) when the sail is up, and you need to take it down, someone, usually the bowman, yells, “Blow the guy!”

The guy is a “line” different than a “rope”, that is attached to a pole and to a corner of the spinnaker, that helps control and stabilize the boat. In racing, when a team reaches a mark and needs to take the sail down, the bowman will yell the phrase so another person can take down the line to pull in the sail.

All the racers she sails with, as well as older sailors, use the phrase. It is predominantly used while racing as there is an emphasis on haste.

“Blow” here refers to “kill,” “blow out,” “take a blow” as in a “hit” that will take the sail out. She was unsure of why the line is named a “guy.”

“Barney” Surfing Term

My informant told me, that because surfing is so dependent on the unpredictable ocean, that when the waves are good, a surfer wants to use them to their full advantage. When an inexperienced surfer gets in on a line-up where the waves might be beyond their ability to catch, or they are in another surfer’s way, hindering their ability to catch waves, well they aren’t too happy.

In surfing, like any other sport or activity, there is a code of conduct. Surfers learn these rules and abide by them, so there is some organization when it comes to claiming a wave with many people in the water. When a person is interrupting this code, obviously not experienced, or unaware, they are called a “Barney.”

The term Barney, my informer tells me, is specific to California. He learned it while in the water, from surfers yelling, “Get out of here you Barney!” at people in the way. He says it is a negative term, often used with a curse word attached, as it is shouted with aggression and aggravation.

He believes the term may have originated with surfers around his father’s age of 68, whom are familiar with the cartoon the Flinstones. In the show, Barney is the character who is regarded as a fool.

If this truly is the case of the origin, it makes sense as Barney is the screw-up, comic relief, however he is lovable and forgivable. A Barney in this case is definitely not lovable.

“Firing” Surfing Term

My informant is from Half Moon Bay, a small, coastal town in northern California, known for its famous, big wave, surf spot, Mavericks. He has grown up surfing, and has learned it is both based on ability and knowledge of not only the actual riding of the waves, but of understanding the ocean, before one even enters the water. My informant will drive from surf spot to surf spot, throughout the day, to catch waves after studying weather forecasts, checking surf reports, and tracking ocean currents. When he hears “Dude its firing,” he knows its time to grab his board and hit the waves.

The term “firing” means there’s really good surf. The water is firing one good wave after another, and breaking nicely. He does not know how the term originated, just heard it out on the water and at the beach. He says it is a universal phrase to surfers around the United States. He only says the term around surfers or those familiar with surfing. The term “firing” is interchangeable with the term “going off.”

The ocean is a powerful, constantly changing, force of nature. It seems ironic that the water is “firing” at first thought, however at a second thought it makes sense. The ocean fires a wave, firing, in terms of shooting, requires great force at a fast speed. Surfers want big waves that move fast, for them to have a smooth ride. Firing, is a perpetual motion, signifying that these waves keep on coming, like “firing a round.” More waves to catch for the riders.