mosh-pit lingo (1980- )

Sun Jul 31 17:32:57 UTC 2005

* slam-dancing, n. (OED 1981)

1980 _L.A. Times_ 29 June (Calendar) 3/2 Other club managers and regular
club-goers blamed the violence on organized Huntington Beach-area punk
gangs who make a practice of pummeling each other and Slam dancing at area
clubs.

1980 _L.A. Times_ 29 June (Calendar) 4/1 The mindless ferocity of this
Slam dancing bothers longtime L.A. punk enthusiasts who view the younger,
beach-area punks as outside agitators bent on destroying the local punk
community.

* slam-dance, v. (OED 1982)

1981 _L.A. Times_ 5 July (Calendar) 5/1 Robert Louis Stevenson, the
original author of this classic-turned-silly, may slam-dance in his
coffin.

* slam-dancer, n. (OED Nov. 10, 1981)

1981 _Washington Post_ 3 Nov. B8/1 Among other things, slam dancers throw
themselves into other slam dancers' arms, just as if they were throwing
themselves out a window.

* slamming, n. (OED 1983)

1981 _N.Y. Times_ 22 Mar. D11/3 "Slamming," the latest mode of dancing
among the punks -- sudden, full-tilt lunging across the floor that
sometimes knocks other dancers off their feet -- has also drawn some
criticism and complaints.

* slam pit = later "mosh pit" (not in OED)

1983 _L.A. Times_ 23 Dec. VI19/4 A spectacular slow-motion scene of a fan
diving headfirst from the stage and executing a full forward flip before
landing in the slam pit.

* stage-diving, n. (OED 1984)

1983 _Washington Post_ 21 Aug. C3/2 Slam dancing and stage diving. Can you
explain what that is? ... In the beginning, stage diving is you just go on
stage and jump.

* stage-diver, n. (OED 1985)

1983 _Boston Globe_ 30 Apr. 1 (Proquest) From out of the Pit come the
stage divers - young men who climb onto the stage, dance or sing with the
band members (who welcome them).

* stage-dive, n. (not in OED)

1985 _Harvard Crimson_ 10 Oct. I tell him about the time I saw a kid hurt
himself doing a stage dive in New Orleans. ... "In Boston," he tells me,
hands in his lap, "if a kid gets up to take a stage dive, the punks clear
the floor."
http://www.thecrimson.com/article.aspx?ref=106308

1988 _Syracuse Herald Journal_ 11 Aug. D1/2 While not all speed metal
shows inspire stage dives and slam dancing, it is a much more
participatory medium than most music.

* stage-dive, v. (OED 1994)

1989 _Plain Dealer_ (Cleveland, OH) 28 Apr. (Factiva) When Ian was young
he often stage-dived during other group's concerts.

* mosher, n. (OED 1990)

1988 _Colorado Springs Gazette Telegraph_ 1 Sep. D4 (Factiva) The 10-foot
space between the stage and the first row became an uncontrolled mosh pit,
with dozens of moshers slamming into each other, running full-speed from
one end of the pit to the other. There was enough energy among the dozens
of moshers to make up for the fact that only a handful of tickets were
sold for the show.

* crowd-surfing, n. (not in OED)

1989 _Globe & Mail_ (Toronto) 20 Nov. C7 (Factiva) "The music is a barrage
of stampeding time trials inspiring live audiences to excesses of
stage-diving and crowd-surfing." - promotional literature for Napalm
Death, makers of Scum, "one of the bestselling thrash LP's of all time."

* crowd-surf, v. (not in OED)

1992 _Richh: Breakfast--with a twist_ in _talk.bizarre_ (Usenet newsgroup)
18 Jan., Men, now, you can stagedive and crowdsurf, and maybe get a look
at the band before the security nazis throw you off the stage.

1993 _Ottawa Citizen_ 24 July E1 (Nexis) The guitar-driven groove-rock
combined with the wild girating and head-bobbing of singer/lyricist Gord
Downie makes crowds unruly -- fans pump their fists in the air, crowd
surf, throw things like underwear and cigarettes or climb up on stage and
dive off.

* crowd-surfer, n. (not in OED)

1992 _Ozzy show 20th March_ in _alt.rock-n-roll.metal_ (Usenet newsgroup)
27 Mar., There were some crowd surfers - I unintentionally became the
first one of the gig - I climbed onto one of the small barriers that run
across the floor (to reduce crushing problems) to get a better view but
was pushed forwards and 'was forced' to surf to the front.
http://groups-beta.google.com/group/alt.rock-n-roll.metal/msg/3bbb2377ba2eed21

1992 _News & Observer_ (Raleigh, NC) 12 Nov. E1 (Factiva) But that didn't
deter the slamdancers and crowd-surfers in the audience, most of whom
seemed content to get pummeled by the beat while jumping up and down.

* people-surfing, n. (not in OED)

1991 _Toronto Star_ 19 July D17 (Factiva) Moore then laughed a wicked
laugh as he called out, "Aarrrgh, mateys!" and the crowd engaged in people
surfing and stage diving with an enthusiasm not seen at a Toronto concert
in many moons.

* surfing = crowd-surfing; surfer = crowd-surfer (sense not in OED)

[1991 _Denver Post_ 14 Nov. F1 (Factiva) Some stage-dive, which is a sort
of surfing done over the heads of the crowd.]

1992 _Warrior Soul Show Review_ in _alt.rock-n-roll.metal_ (Usenet
newsgroup) 29 Feb., Surfing attempts got better and better as people
stopped moving away from surfers and began to move closer to them, trying
to keep them aloft, not to keep them away.
http://groups-beta.google.com/group/alt.rock-n-roll.metal/msg/fb995fbb3d98e0ad

1994 _Wall St. Journal_ 9 Sep. A1 (Proquest) Sally Welch, 19, who was
surfing at the same show when someone dropped her, got the wind knocked
out of her, but she lost none of her enthusiasm.

* body-surf, v.; body-surfing, n. (not in OED)

1992 _Boston Globe_ 23 Feb. B27 (Factiva) Kids will slam, dive and
body-surf to virtually any band with a semblance of a hard edge. ... "The
slam dancing and body-surfing has really taken off," he says.

1992 _Orange Co. Register_ 15 May P40 (Factiva) The frenetic dance, which
also includes stage-diving and body surfing ("swimming" to the stage over
a sea of writhing bodies), is the subject of a cover story in this week's
Billboard.

* body-surfer, n. (not in OED)

1992 _KMFDM.Review.Toronto_ in _rec.music.industrial_ (Usenet newsgroup)
16 June, There was a bunch of my friends all up on the stage for the
entire show.  Great view, but of course it was a bit uncomfortable getting
bombarded by body surfers and what not.
http://groups-beta.google.com/group/rec.music.industrial/msg/7014cc71737c8ec6

* audience surf(ing) (not in OED)

1993 _Big Day Out - Sydney_ in _aus.music_ (Usenet newsgroup) 27 Jan.,
Fair amount of audience surfing ... Lots of mosh & audience surf.
http://groups-beta.google.com/group/aus.music/msg/cd62391f94f88cc1

* surf(ing) the crowd (not in OED)

1993 _St. Louis Post-Dispatch_ 11 July 3C (Factiva) "Surfing the crowd"
was among the activities at the recent Lollapalooza festival at Riverport
Amphitheatre.

1993 _Slamming sucks_ in _alt.music.alternative_ (Usenet newsgroup) 7
Dec., I also noticed that when someone would surf the crowd, and not make
it down on their feet, people would clear around them so they could get
up.
http://groups-beta.google.com/group/alt.music.alternative/msg/753ae778589573b3

--Ben ZImmer