A grommet (grom, or gremmie) is a young participant in extreme sports. Originally, a grommet was a surfer under the age of 16. In recent years, this has expanded to include other extreme sports, most notably skiing, skateboarding, roller derby and snowboarding.[1]
Etymology
editThe first contextual use of the word appears in a 1964 article by the journalist, Nicholas Tomalin, who on a visit to Newquay in Cornwall noted that: "A surfer who is no good or just beginning is a 'gremmie'."[2]
The word "Gremmie", which was used in the United States in the 1940s and 1950s, was derived from the word "Gremlin".[3]
The term "grommet" was used in Lockie Leonard, Legend by Tim Winton in 1997: "Things are never as simple as they seem, not even for grommets". This earliest citation was a few years after the creation of the Wallace and Gromit animated films.
The word was originally a term for an inexperienced surfer, but has become an accepted term for all young participants. For example, the British Surfing Association offers a Grommet Surf Club for young surfers.[citation needed]
References
edit
- ^ Definition of grommet on About.com. Archived March 4, 2016, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Sun, surf and sexuality – it's a whole new cult". The Times. August 16, 1964.[dead link]
- ^ TransWorld SURF (2006-05-06). "5/9/06 Kew's Corner: The Definition of 'Grommet'". Archived from the original on 2016-03-04.