8. You Speak A Different Language
If you were to ask someone whether theyve seen P-Rods nollie varial heelflips youd be met with a bizarre combination of confusion and bemusement. To other skateboarders this statement makes perfect sense. Skateboarders have a different language; the word nollie and fakie have a meaning to you, but most people have no idea what this means. Much like reading an alien language, the terminology that is used makes absolutely no sense to ousiders... and that's kind of how it's liked. It gives the rare feeling of exclusivity. Likewise, if you read the word half cab and think of the trick, not the shoes, then you will totally understand what this means. The skateboarding culture has developed over forty years, and in that time has developed a private linguistics and vocabulary. Far from the popular culture ideas that skaters all walk around saying dude and radical, they use words that combine different parts of different tricks; a varial heelflip shows just that, as it combines varial with the base trick. Next time your non-skate friends meet your skate friends look at how confused they get by skateboarding terminology; it is hardly an accessible language, and it is hard to engage in if you are not part of the subculture.