Thursday, January 22, 2009

Yard Sale

This past weekend I went skiing for the first time in almost 12 years. Happily, there were no broken bones.
I learned a new term on this ski trip. "Yard sale" refers to one of those skiing or snowboarding wipeouts where everything (skis, poles, hats, etc.) are strewn about, much like people's junk is strewn around in a yard sale.
My question is this: when did that term come to be? I had never heard it, but then again, I haven't been skiing in quite some time. I checked with some other folks today who haven't been skiing in several years as well, and they had never heard of it either. Anyone?

4 comments:

Donnie Barnes said...

It goes WAY back. I first heard the term in about 1994 in my white water rafting class at NCSU. It was used to refer to a flipped raft since occupants and gear would get flung far and wide. I don't believe it was new then (and could have still originated from something like skiing). I've also seen the term used to describe a 4x4 vehicle doing some rock crawling resulting in a roll. Same deal. It's a really old saying.

Maybe you just have to be an outdoor type to have heard it. *gulp*

Jane Elizabeth said...

Or maybe I was just busy in school learning to become a doctor or something. Or maybe it's because I've never HAD a yard sale myself.

Donnie Barnes said...

You don't go fast enough to have a yard sale. Worst thing that would happen is a "paper route" or something. hehehe

Jane Elizabeth said...

That's mean, but true. I'm a CAUTIOUS skier.