Gnarly

Gnarly may be merely the replacement for hairy, an expression no doubt referring to a common animalistic reaction to really scary horror movies, but Trevor Cralle puts an extra spin on the tale by giving the word a geographic origin (and we could not go wrong to claim that most language is rooted in specific places). He tells us, "Among surfers (with whom the word is most commonly identified), gnarly may have first been used at a California surf spot where Torrey pine or Monterey cypress trees grew. Their gnarled roots and branches may have inspired comparisons with the waves." p. 45, The Surfin'ary.

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