gnarly (was Re: Pasta monster gets academic attention - Science- msnbc.com)

[Benjamin Zimmer]

On Nov 20, 2007 9:01 AM, David Bowie <db.list at pmpkn.net> wrote:
>
> From:    Mark Mandel <thnidu at GMAIL.COM>
>
> > Did anyone else notice the word "gnarl" in that article?
>
> > "In one, the image of the carbohydrate creator is seen in a gnarl of dug-up
> > tree roots."
>
> > I'd never encountered the noun before. OED has two noun entries for it:
> > gnarl1. A contorted knotty protuberance, esp. on a tree.
> > gnarl2. A snarl. (rare) [The citation is a dog's snarl, not a snarl in e.g.
> > a person's hair.]
>
> I grew up[1] with the term, and I was familiar enough with it that I
> always thought the term "gnarly"[2] was derived from it--knowing that it
> was Californian (was it really?), it therefore must have been surfer
> slang, and so was probably originally used in describing the condition
> of a wave. (Same logic beneath my reasoning on where "tubular" came from.)
>
> No idea if my teenage folk etymologizing was anywhere near correct, but
> these are the sorts of things that occur when your primary linguistic
> contact with California are Fast Times at Ridgemont High and Zappa's
> Valley Girl.
>
> [1] b. 1970, grew up in Southern Maryland.
> [2] Yes, i came of age in the 80s.

That would accord with the HDAS treatment, from "gnarly" = 'dangerous,
difficult' (in surfing/skateboarding contexts) to "gnarly" = 'cool'.
HDAS has cites for the former sense from 1977, and I've previously
posted a 1979 cite for the latter sense:

-----
Washington Post, May 29, 1979, p. B3/6
And one recent visitor from Southern California reported that 14-year-olds
out there, which is to say the Thought Police of American popular culture,
are approving things not as boss, hot, neat, bad, or tough but -- are you
ready? -- "gnarly."
-----

--Ben Zimmer

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