Date: Mon, 3 Nov 1997 20:10:38 -0500 From: Gerald Cohen Subject: "Stoked" I see that "stoked" is treated in _The Surfinary: A Dictionary of Surfing and Surfspeak_, by Trevor Cralle (Berkeley, CA: Ten Speed Press), l991: "stoked, adv., adj. l) excited, thrilled, jazzed--usually about the surf; chock-full of enthusiasm or satisfaction. 2) Feeling the ultimate in exhilaration; feeling high on life--can't wait to go surfing. 3) An impressed reaction to something "boss." 4) A reaction to the ultimate ride on the ultimate wave. ..." Cralle then quotes John Grissom's _Pure Stoke_ (l982) concerning the etymology of the term: "To catch a wave was (and is) to stoke the fires of the heart and soul. Hence the terms: to be stoked, the stoked life, degrees of stoke, and pure stoke." --Gerald Cohen gcohen[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]umr.edu