UKH

Following on from Misha's thread on modern terminology which many of us oldies dislike (send, rad, etc.), what about phrases that are no longer in common parlance? Mentioned in that thread are "snap-link" and "rope-down", but what about "Desmond", one of my favourities = to fall off and hit the ground as in Desmond Dekker? (Lucky git, he walked away from that Desmond.)

MOAC

Chockstone

Rapping (As in abseiling)

dachsteins

put your waterproof on

runners (as in protection.... and I don't hear that much these days)

Walk in

Stick a jam in. 

In the same way “abacus” has left common parlance

Still use, and there are plenty around

Sometimes use (more often rappel)

See MOAC

Still used (although improved weather forecasts means the need for this is reduced)

Still used

Still used - normally in the context of “f*ck going there, it’s a long walk in” 

Must be out of touch, but I still use "runners" (shortened from "running belay") and protection. I've retired my moacs though they're still in the "old gear" box. I still have a pair of dachs and quite like a long walk in.

I often stick a jam in, and jamming is making a comeback, thnks, at least partially to jamming gloves and the wide boyz.

Escort van (nothing to do with sex work, a precursor to Sprinters and T5s)

Greasy spoon (artisanal vegan)

Crags (instagram)

Caving (Costa Blanca)

Try suggesting it to any partners you have under 35 and/or who started on a wall, and see the bewildered look you get! 

My friend, who shall remain anonymous, still uses the term "runners" on sport routes.

Interestingly, some walls and even some comps have started setting routes and problems which involve some jamming.

They always have. I pretty much learnt to jam on the brilliant overhanging hand crack in The Edge bouldering room (1994). When the Climbing Words first opened I nearly broke my arm falling off one of many horrible jamming problems (2006).

Given that rock climbing involves climbing cracks, it's very unlikely that jamming is ever going to go away, or consequently, come back.

Cag as in Cagoule

Peg hammer!

Still use Desmond

Clip the peg

Get a runner in

Ets for etriers ( used to have a home made version which  I used a couple of times in the yorkshire dales when pegging was briefly in fashion )

I never heard any English climber use the term rapping. It was always 'abbing' from right from the time I started climbing in the mid-1960s.

Duvet (jacket).

Stance

Extenders

stickman

Tiger

Youth (as a greeting rather than Youth Teams, Youth Comps, Youth Festival etc.)

"Diffs in the rain"

Still use "runners", and shout "runner on" sometimes.

Also use MOACs as my largest wedge-shaped nut and have spares for my dotage should they become unobtainable. They seem somehow to give a huge number of bomber placements. However a similar sized curved face nut must be even better....for me the overriding advantage is that they can be slung on cord and often don't require extenders (extenders is probably dying terminology too). 

Tie offs

Anoraks

Wet legs

Bergen

Sticht Plate

It is most satisfying to use these when climbing next to folks who are psyched for sending.

PA's. Not heard climbing shoes called that in a while.

I was going to include EBs but there was an advert on here for them this morning.

Stubai steel krabs

Hemp ropes

Tricounis

Klets

PAs

EBs

Etriers

Pegs and peg hammer

Waist band

Ventile Jacket

Breeches and Red socks

Kendal Mint Cake

Flat cap, brier pipe and tobacco, and lots and lots or matches.

Psychological belays 

50 m red avalance cord with lead markers and arrows.

Ditto. For some reason it's a term that seems to have been adopted by the Military in recent years and is filtering into mainstream climbing.

And EB's. (Edit:seen this has been mentioned).

Also 'Stickies' - for all those rad sending dudes this means sticky-soled climbing shoes, as opposed to climbing in 'big boots' i.e the one pair that functioned for the approach, the climb, descent and return, best when coupled with red socks and big bag. In the rain.

Same!

Nuts.

Back in the day we literally used nuts before alloy chocks appeared.

Incidentally I still use nearly all the terms listed on this thread. 

In the US, it is always rapping, never abbing.

"Peel" for a big fall.

And RD s

I’m 32 and started at a wall. Most of my climbing partners are in their early to mid 20s and started at walls. We all jam. Gritstone beats that into people... :-P

"Cacking me britches" seems to have fallen out of fashion nowdays. My old climbing mucker Chas used this expression quite often.

I remember the ancient art of festering...

What are stickmen and tigers? The others are still used. 

Good thread. Never heard (about) Desmond.

Surely climbing folks still fester ??

Cags and ets no longer used, the others are. People know what etriers are but they’re pretty specialist so not something most people have occasion to use and hence the abbreviation has died out. I’m not sure people know exactly what cagoules are. I assume it’s the cape type waterproof which climbers used to use (visions of Troll Wall type suffering) rather than any waterproof  but I might be wrong.  

What’s a bergen and a tie off? People still refer to tieing someone off at a stance, i.e. used as a verb rather than a noun.

Nuts definitely still used. It’s just that they aren’t nuts any more. Whereas chocks not used as a term any more. That’s an interesting example of a term used to describe one thing being carried over to describe another thing which is sort of similar and serves the same purpose. 

What’s an RD?

"Cacking me britches"

 This one HAS to be resurrected! I will adopted from now on

Bergen is a rucksack, tie offs are extenders, quickdraws, previously made by tying off a length of tape.

Tiger - old term for a really hard climber. (Hence Tiger Trot (VD) at Stoney).

Stickman - 1980s very thin (almost anorexic) climber, in particular "The Buxton Stickman".

As above, I still use the term runners all the time. I'm 28, and started indoors.

Bergan is a frame rucksack (fairly sure they are still called bergans in the army)

Tie offs are quick draws iirc

A Bergen is a very specific form of rucksack, for which the term is still applied. Now that we have proper kit, not army hand-me-downs, just calling it a "rucksack", "sack" or "bag" seems far more appropriate.

Galibier RDs were heavy leather boots for alpine climbing

I think 'quickdraw' itself was originally a name used by a (1980s?) company for their extenders - not certain of this but I'm sure somebody on here will know.

Bergan: as said by others, this is a big rucksack, might have been a brand or model-name, mainly used just by the army now.

Tie-off: would this mean tying a length of tape onto a (in situ?) peg, maybe one that hasn't been fully driven, so the tape would be tied around the shaft of the peg (up against the rock) to reduce leverage rather than tying through the eye or just clipping into the eye.

I’m sure they do but I haven’t the word for a long time. 

Thanks. Tieing off is still used in the context of a protruding peg or indeed ice screw. 

I'd be interested to know what they call it now. Because, as you say, of course they still must do ... though perhaps in the present age they are less inclined to admit it ? ?

I'm fairly certain "Quickdraw" was late 70s / early 80s - used for a desperate clip to fixed gear, the two krabs and short sling, one krab pre-cliped to the rope and the other carried on a velcro gear loop so you could just rip the krab free and clip into the peg.

Furtling stick (also for the same thing, broddling stick).

Ronnies; though I still wear mine every now and then.

Udge

I'm sure more will come back to me . . .

T.

Yes, kletts. Klettershuhe. When you think about it the better sort of approach shoes are nothing more than an updating and re-branding of kletts.

I don't know if it was just an Avon Gorge thing but back in the 60's we used to refer Tie offs as Hero Loops, I've never heard it used anywhere else.

I was the proud owner of 2 RURPs and 2 Bongs, attached to my hemp waistline and later, to a Troll belt, by ex-WD crabs. Phrases like "Lovely Gully that" and "Looks like combined tactics needed here" are rarely heard in Kalymnos. "Aren't Vibrams just great in the rain?" is another.  

Beer towel

‘Whillans’ was often used as a term for harness when they were ubiquitous. 

What did we used to call non hawser laid ropes? What’s it ‘perlon’. Which gives us ‘9’s’ for double ropes of course.

(named after Rene Desmaison)

I'm pretty sure there was a rather clumsy rock boot as well. 

And are 'thrutch' and 'graunch' still widely used?

Ah, thrutch; I'd forgotten that one. I've thrutched a few good jackets to a premature retirement too.

T.

Clean Hand Gang

a cheval (add some accents as appropriate)

Disco leg

Ah yes. Brings back memories of Dowber Ghyll Passage. A mile of continuous thrutching.

"Jambing" a much used non sequitur in Ron James "Rock Climbing in Wales" guide. 

aka Grot Rag

I  still use 'extenders' instead of 'quickdraws' which was obviously imported from America. Also 'Friends' instead of 'Cams'. 'Hawser' is long gone thank-goodness, as has 'Perlon' and 'figure of eight'. It is all progress I suppose. 'Breeches' are rarely seen today, and 'Sloppy Joe'. Now that will get Misha scratching his head!

Crater? As in to crater or Desmond.

I included ‘Disco leg’ because I have not heard the expression for years. I haven’t seen anyone suffering from it for years either.

I’m trying to think whether I’ve heard anyone use the expression ‘Elvis leg’...probably but not recently!  

Remember the RDs as a rock shoe. Possibly the alpine boots which were very popular for a few years were Super RDs.

You are right about Super RDs

RDs however were a boot with ankle support! Shoes suddenly appeared when people eventually realised that ankle support was unnecessary and restrictive. 

Blue polyprop(ylene) rope. My dad got it free from work.

Saw one being used in Font a couple of months ago by some young dudes.... along with a plethora of crash pads

What about "Climb when you're ready"  Haven't folk dropped the "you're" ?

Still used, and add Singer (as in the old sewing machine) as another option for Elvis leg. 

And don't forget Sashcord for slings.

Festering is something people do at work when they can’t go climbing, or when injured. What was the original meaning?

Lots of people I hear at the climbing wall now say “Climber ready”, which somewhat defeats the object of the exercise!

Thrutch is alive and well. Often updated to thrutchfest. 

Sloppy Joe sounds like a cocktail. 

Or bridled. Heard that once in 15 years of climbing. 

I recall calling those new fangled ropes ‘kernmantles’

Yes, that was it! Still recall using perlon though. Perhaps interchangeable but kernmantle def used more.

Festering was for bad weather when it wasnt really possible to go climbing, so it was down the cafe / pub / hut / tent drinking beer / tea etc depending on budget. You basically just spent the day festering.

Also known as sewing machine knee which I have experienced more often than I care to admit!

I was thinking about the rock boot RD, similar to EBs but with a brown suede-like upper.

I still think higher cut uppers were a boon when descending via scree filled gullies.

Grannyhanger - Perfect nut placement

Yorkshire lead- free ride with the gear placed by a n other

Apprentice- mobile belayer to be converted into leader for dotage

Bumblies

Rubbers (as opposed to nailed boots?)

Looking back in my old climbing log book, it seems that the following expressions were quite common in the late '60s:

"Only runner fell off"

"Mildly desperate"

"Shitting bricks"

"thrutched and graunched"

"toe-shattering" stances.

"rogue pegs in place"

"festered in Wendy's"

"choss"

Changing the subject slightly... The ‘Yorkshire lead’ comment that you made brought to mind the Vivian Quarry route ‘Comes the Dervish’ which had ‘Yorkshire VS’ scratched in large letters at its base sometime in the late eighties.

Grit rash.

Always needed explaining at work on Monday mornings.

Waist belay, belay gloves only for softies, and rope burn.

Further to my reference to ‘Yorkshire VS’ , I am going to add ‘Plymouth 5c.’  

I love the derisory nature of these statements. 

Are these phrases in common parlance? Are there any others? 

Way, way before that, it was a Norwegian canvas duck rucksack made by Bergans with a thin steel A frame, which the SAS took to using.  The Army subsequently used the term to describe the truly awful early framed military Bergans (a bit like a green microwave on a motorbike frame), as opposed to the abysmal frameless general service version (which defies description, but didn't have straps of its own).   Post Falklands, the Army decided that it would henceforth walk with all of its kit instead of having a nice CQMS bring it along later in a lorry, and so emerged a plethoraof massive bergens/bergans into which you could/can fit the kitchen sink.

I used to have ancient  Bergans rucksack as worn by the SAS in Aden, Malaya, Oman etc.  I was 7 at the time.  It was rather large for me,  but it was the dog's do-dahs.  The steel frame was thin and sprung and moved.

Tinc Benz.

The smell of the early 80s (summer at least).  Winter smelled of wet dachsteins.

I meant broddler!

Bumblies is still used but largely superseded by punters. Not quite the same thing but everyone seems to have their own view on exactly what these terms are meant to refer to. 

There's also "Yorkshire 8a" - which means something like Peak 7c

And there's "High Rocks 5c", a term used by Mick Fowler which refers to just about anything harder than 5b.

I don't hear the term Path any more. Maybe it's fallen out of use or maybe it's because we did all the paths years ago and now the only routes left are all nails.

Piece of Duff

Rompsville

Bag, Bag of or Bag of Sh*t seems not used any more though the concept is recorded for posterity symbolically in the Rockfax guides.

Plus fours.

What is a furtling stick? Never heard that before.

Is that e same thing as chiliing out?

"Furkle" is Cheshire dialect for "rummage"

Like a broddling stick, a furtling stick is a nut key; a stick with which one furtles or broddles until your nuts are released.

And having typed that, I realise it could also mean something else.  No euphemism was intended.

T.

What happened to good old "faith-and-friction"?  It seems to be all about smearing ( which I think of  as a hybrid - smutty leering - don't know why)

Only in the broadest sense (not climbing, being lazy). Chilling sounds much cooler and more respectable, while festering was something more squalid and disreputable, probably involving drinking too much.

 A lot of festering took place in your pit

Breeches. Even into the 70s these were often standard wear for climbing, mountaineering. Made with below knee  fastenings to overlap with long stockings. Haven't noticed any out on the hill for many years and may well be extinct. 

have to disagree a bit there, Gordon. If you had the money to go drinking, then that became an activity and a day out in itself, regardless of the weather / alternative activities. Festering in my experience involved staying in your pit until you had to get up, than hanging around the hut / tent drinking tea as finances wouldnt allow for beer, then heading out due to boredom to see how long a brew could last in the nearest cafe. Then going home. Having done absolutely nothing.

It came into use among mates in the 70s/80s after trips to Yosemite. Strangely, during earlier trips to the Alps they were immune to French influence and stuck to 'abbing' but after meeting those cool Californians it was 'rapping' all the way.

I think of it as in a festering sore. That is not actually doing very much at all but slowly decaying or going downhill.

I seem to recall Perlon was a continental (poss German/) name for nylon or some cunning variation of it

Still used here.  Synonymous with 'insult' as in a route that is ridiculously overgraded "That's just an insult" - preferably used just after you've done rather than just before you fall off it

Attend a Fell and Rock meet, you might be surprised.

Yes, what exactly is an 'alpenstock'?

Yorkshire VS brings to mind "Bancroft 5b" and as a consequence has "sandbag" been mentioned.(see also Callerhues 5a)

I think sandbag is still in very much in use. Don't think there's a synonym for it is there?

I was recently mocked for calling my 'tie offs' tie offs. The young whippersnapper  concerned (who I know is nudging 50)  patronisingly informed me the correct term was  'Quick Draw' but isn't even that on the way out now? These days I mostly hear QDs, 'Draws or even the continental Express used

Shares in ski lift company?

In reply to some people higher up who won't load properly, surely a 'tie-off' was a home-made quickdraw made by buying some tape and tying it into a loop using a 'tape knot'. Certainly one ties off pegs as a verb, but that's a different use and still current AFAIK, as MIsha says.

Also, stickies, to my generation, were not just rock boots, but the generation of rock boots with stealth rubber - Fires being the first or one of the first. EBs were not stickies. Jerry was said to have done Ulysses using the first pair of stickies in the country, for instance.

One I shan't miss is 'path', used as a verb (as in 'he pathed it', meaning 'he ascended it smoothly and easily', often used of Dougie Hall.).

jcm

I have clear memories of a week-long fester in 70s, although it was slightly spoiled by managing to get in a few climbs as well. We'd gone to Wales after university exams (never shortened to 'uni') and camped in the Pass, when this was permitted or at least tolerated.  Woke to the familiar sound of Welsh rain hammering the flysheet.  We lay in our pits drinking brews until our bladders couldn't take any more, then moved to Wendy's to carry on drinking tea.  Mid-afternoon we gave up any hope of the weather clearing and decamped to Eric's, where we carried on drinking more tea.  Around teatime the weather would clear sufficiently to get a climb in, before returning to our tents via the Vaynol.  Next day the same pattern was repeated, for an entire week.  Happy days.

Another expression you don't hear much these days is "giving the mountain best".  In my club, when abandoning our plans we would say we'd made a "mountaineering decision" (when really we meant the weather was too bad/the route was too hard/we were to cowardly/we were too idle).

I always marvel at some of the stuff done before sticky rubber, Piece of Mind being one example.

Beau Geste!

Also Redhead's early attempts at Indian Face were done wearing Canyons iirc

Actually it was a a thick woolly jumper about 2 sizes too big, that usually got even bigger when it was sodden wet,  so it came down just short of the knees!

Originally (back in my day!) a tie-off was a thin sling, usually clove-hitched over a peg, typically a peg which wasn't fully hammered home. You could then use a carabiner to clip the rope. It would give more security than simply clipping an extender into the peg.

But these days more daughters roll my eyes at me for describing a "clip" (=quick-draw) as a tie-off!

Steve

Maybe forgotten, but certainly not gone! Still climbing chalkless 

”Bobby Moore”.

A nylon jacket worn to protect the climber from the rain. Named after it’s resemblance to something the late, great Bobby Moore may have worn during training for the ‘66 World Cup. The owner of the only Bobby Moore known to survive is a long-standing contributor to UKC.

My favourite is glacis. 

It's odd that you still quite often hear climbing shoes called "climbing boots" despite it being very rare to see "high tops" being sold these days. I had a pair of just about 'boots' - Kamet Joshua Trees - for my first pair of climbing shoes back in 90 or 91, but I suspect most people who started in the last 25 years have never had shoes that went up to their ankles. Nevertheless stickies of all types still seem to get referred to as boots by many.

I often chuckle at how my wife still refers to her tiny, little-more-than-ballet-shoes footwear as 'boots'.

"Glissading" is one that springs quickly to my mind. Appears regularly in mountaineering literature, however its use often brings looks of confusion from others, or at least I feel it does.

Others are words like "chocks" and "screamers" (in the gear and the fall sense) seem to produce similar reactions.

Have to agree. Runner still in common use as far as I'm concerned (took a big lob but my shaky top runner held)

Yes when I started QDs were called tie-offs. Not many seem to remember this.

IIRC, I think we called them 'extensions' before that (up to c.1975).

as used in the *NEW* langdale guide, to find  Coati on Pavey 

don't hear stickies much these days as they are all sticky!

Actually they were referred to as tie offs/extenders interchangeably in my circle (80s) but never quick draws.

Friends are slowly becoming cams.

I'm 32 and jamming is my most favourite method of climbing..

We called that a Broggler!

Boots/slippers

Friends* - not to be confused with flexible friends (I think Friends became the generic term for any cams for a while)

*I still have a solid friend, I'm sure it needs to placed in a museum

'Friends' are a bit like 'Hoover'. Some names just stick, unlike my rock-shoes!

"V S Man" - quite a status symbol in the fifties.

Anyone remember the brief fad for coloured chalk - came in a range a shades to match to the rock you were climbing to prevent the rock being covered in unnatural, brilliant white smears

I thought a Desmond was a 2:2

Mark, I remember the old adage ‘If in doubt, run it out!’ being used at Stoney in the late 79s/early 80s.

Does anyone talk about cratering any more?

Me too, but the alternative "If it's thin, get some in" always seemed more sensible!!

I can hear the screams now...

So what if it was carcinogenic? Did the job.

Well, Max must be of a similar generation......

Great route, btw. Have you done it?

It's benzoin not benzene, hence not known as a carcinogen. 

Good stuff, does anyone still use it? (AKA Friar's Balsam).

yes last weekend in blazing sunshine - top quality route

"Chalk free ascent" - chalk would only ever been seen on the highest grade routes, and even then there was debate. Using chalk on anything less than an E grade would raise eyebrows at the least.

Isn't 'nutf**ker' the common term?

worth it for the smell alone

I can remember 'give it some rice' being popular, though I don't know the provenance of the term.  I have heard it fairly recently as well, which was a step back in time.  I think 'rice' has become 'beans' with more or less the same intent.  Youth makes a regular appearance, though increasingly inappropriate as in 'out today, youth?' *looks over shoulder*

'Pokey' used to be common, but generally things are less pokey nowadays.

'uphill' similarly, though things are more uphill nowadays... maybe that is simply how it seems?

I rather liked “twinkle boots” for EBs and PAs. I still call my Futuras by that name.

I'd not heard that one before.

Surely "tie-offs" were originally meant to tie off pitons that stuck out too far.  In the US we called them "hero loops."  You didn't leave the ground on a wall without ten stuffed in your pocket.  The term has vanished along with most pitons in the US.

"Quick-draws" were invented and named in Yosemite.  The reference is to wild west gunslinging.  Originally tied with a loop of 11/16" webbing.  They have become "draws."

We called pitons "pins" but never "pegs."  The list of gear for a wall was called the "pin list."  Carabiners were and continue to be "biners," but never "krabs," which are seafood, not climbing gear.

US climbers continue to "rap" right up to today.  No one abseils, and abs are stomach muscles.

As the devices for it have multiplied, "Jumaring" has disappeared and is now "jugging," which mysteriously derived from Jumaring.  One suspects hallucinogens might have had something to do with that.

Were y'all to delve into your own history, you would find that,  as rubber-soled climbing shoes started to replace nailed boots, they were called "rubbers."  In the US, rubbers would be found on another appendage for the purpose of preventing pregnancies.  In the US, climbers wore "kletterschue" for a long time until smooth-soled versions eventually caught on; these never got a generic name and were referred to by brand, eg RD's, EB's, PA's, Robbins Shoes, Shoenards, etc.  The pre-war Italian "espadrilles" never made it over.

Another bit of UK history is the Tarbuck Knot, a sort of prussik loop meant for tying in and purportedly providing a bit of a dynamic belay when loaded.

California climbers weren't satisfied to climb mere rock and had to go out and climb stone, so of course Yosemite became the Big Stone.  The rest of the US firmly resisted.

All lug-sole mountain boots had a vibram sole.  "Vibram" stood for the inventor, Vitale Bramani.  The lug pattern was pretty much a moulded copy of the nailing patterns in use before rubber soles.

I have a pair of the Galibier mountain boots in the attic somewhere.  Think they were "Super Guides," not "Super RD's"

The "breeches" mentioned earlier were "knickers" in the US, even when made of moleskin and imported from the UK.

Most of us had MOACs too, but most UK hardware was replaced in the US by Chouinard stoppers and hexentrics when they came out.

‘Get a chock in!’

Although we do seem to use this down the wall a fair bit these days as your mate climbs past the bolt .....!

I climbed a few times with Hugh Banner in the 60's in his brief return to the  Avon Gorge. He always named runners and other protection as Assurance (a term we still use) and always referred to the guidebook as the Brochure (which we still use). He was very kind to us impoverished students and always took us to  a pizzeria (where his wife joined us) after we had been climbing.

Hi Mark,

Phil 'Jimmy' Jewel always had a way with words. The first time I met him in the mid 70s he baffled me with expressions such as "that's bostin!" (to describe a really solid nut placement) and "what a corker!" (really good route). 

Surprised nobody has mentioned 'throwing a wobbly' yet...

Pete.

Called an Eckenstein in very olden times

sounds like part of a tank!

I first climbed using a 'waist band' - made of hemp! And my first ''biners' were lethal Hiatt steel jobbies with sharp gates. Replaced with gateless PA krabs that were beautifully light, unfortunately they would open under body weight.

Super Guides and Super RDs were the go-to alpine boots, didn't the heaver one have a plastic toe cap? Which of course led to 'Plastics' - Koflachs!

I led P2 of Vector in original PA rockboots, I thought they were great - they were red and practically rigid, no friction at all. Then I got a pair of brown suede RDs, very comfy! The only boot of that era I never tried were 'Masters'...

Tony, one I'll never forget is your John referring to anything steep as:

'A bit uphill'!

Still makes me chuckle

Kev 

Bostin' is a Black Country term, most people probably wouldn't understand it...

Well I'm sure the average Chinese person might not be acquainted with it but it's a bit more widespread than that. Wasn't Jimmy a Scouser?

A waist band was needed to tie in with the Tarbuck knot. 

US climbers copied it but used 1" (and later 2") nylon webbing and called them "swami belts."  Loopless legs were free to roam!  But no gear loops to carry all that junk on.

I made my own faggots last week and saved a couple for my mate Dave.

He said them was bostin  and he's a yam yam so he should know.

Those red PAs weren't the originals. The originals were blue, the first modern rock boot to be invented, in the late 40's, specifically for use at Fontainbleau. As I understand it, after Pierre Allain went bust as a result of those dodgy krabs the boot patent was bought by a company called Emil Bronneau. They changed the design slightly (deeper toe and wider last) and created the EB that we all knew and loved. I believe PA then tried to re-establish themselves with the red boot. The very first ones were superb - my brother had a pair, but many people didn't like the profile of the sole edge. They changed it into the clodhoppers you describe which survived for, I think, a couple of years before they were swept away, like all the others, by the EB. This boot dominated throughout the late 60's and the 70's until it met it's nemesis in the form of the Boreal Fire with its high-hysteresis (i.e. "sticky) rubber. Inferior boots but the soles made up for it. I've often wondered why they didn't make a sticky soled EB although the Ron Fawcett boot was a good approximation as I remember. 

Downclimb. SW late 80s. As in: "Ahem, watch me, I'm about to rapidly downclimb." (Fall off without nonchalance.)

Well...sort of.  EB's are named for Edmond Bourdonneau.  The company is still producing climbing shoes.  See, for example, https://www.eb-escalade.com/chausson-escalade/histoire-eb/

Born in South Wales but grew up in Birmingham, according to Wikipedia. From my memory he certainly embraced the brummy accent!

Thanks, memory playing tricks. 

I started in the early 90's and we always used the term 'protection' or 'pro' as in "Get some pro in youth!", as opposed to the now ubiquitous 'gear'.

Also tuba if we are talking about terms for defunct kit.

Hawaiian - super long fall around the 50ft mark.

Also what John Dunne did after climbing the first ascent of the Well Dunne Finish to Zoolook. No belay in place so he jumped off taking an Hawaiian.

E

A look (particularly in Scotland).

"We went up to Foinavan and had a wee look at Millenium".

Beautifully ambiguous. Could mean either "we walked past the bottom of Millenium, and decided that no way in hell would we go anywhere near it", or "last thing I clearly remember was launching out onto the crux pitch somewhere near the top as the light faded"

Steve

Yes, like "Let's go and rub our noses."

I used cratering last week at the crag

Used to call them extenders in the mid 80's when I was starting out.

I

Does anyone remember the Troll 6a chalk bag? The inference that it was only to be used on routes of 6a (UK tech grade) and above.. 

I

Many thanks for that. I was quoting from long memory. I think the broad overview was more or less right!

A delightful term, still in regular use ( funnily enough, increasing with age) in my circle. 

WH Murray did a great riff on the term in “Mountaineering he n Scotland” - I think in his essay on Twisting Gully. I suspect that might have been the origin of its common use.

In some older guidebooks this even became part of the route grade e.g Very Severe (rubbers)

Yes, the Germans invented a different method to make polyamid because DuPost had patented their method (and called it Nylon). After the war this German variant was marketed as Perlon.

Yes, I recall 'perlon' being used more or less as a synonym for 'kernmantle' for a while. It wasn't simply an alternative name for 'nylon', but for a particular type of nylon rope with an outer sheath.