The etymology of 'send'

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Will Hobbs

Trad climber
LA, CA
Topic Author's Original Post - Jun 29, 2007 - 07:39pm PT
Much as I've tried to avoid being infected by too much of the local dialect in the 2 1/2 years that I've lived in the USA, in recent months I've notice the odd 'duuude' creeping into my conversation, where formerly 'mate' would have sufficed.

Fortunately, I have yet to say 'send' in anything other than a deeply ironic sense, but I'm sure it's only a matter of time. So, since I'm going to end up saying it, and since nobody in the pub last night knew the answer, where the hell does the term come from?
Mungeclimber

Trad climber
sorry, just posting out loud.
Jun 29, 2007 - 07:45pm PT
Deliver on the goods.

To send as in to deliver the goods.

least wise that's what I thot i done come from.
Gene

climber
Jun 29, 2007 - 07:52pm PT
Bastardization/Contraction of ascend?

You'd sound like a drug crazed boll weevil if you were out there screaming "Yo! Bro! Ascend it, Doood!"

Only guessing.

GM
Mighty Hiker

Social climber
Vancouver, B.C.
Jun 29, 2007 - 07:54pm PT
Well, as you mention etymology, dude is another interesting one. It was originally an insulting term for novices, usually for city slickers visiting the west. Particularly those who pretended to be what they weren't. I believe it was popularized as an affectionate variant of "friend" in the late 1960s, and it was famously used and discussed in that way in Easy Rider.

Climbers sure love their jargon, eh? Groups that are sociologically similar are much the same. Good thing that English is such a rich and flexible language.
WBraun

climber
Jun 29, 2007 - 08:06pm PT
Hey, like waz up man, like WTF man?

Don'tcha know that's howz we schpeek here, like get it yet dude?

Proper English has fallen now, just like those people with their pants hanging down to their crotch.
Toker Villain

Big Wall climber
Toquerville, Utah
Jun 29, 2007 - 08:13pm PT
Hopefully they cover more than that.


Perhaps SEND means just that; to convey oneself.
climbrunride

Trad climber
Durango, CO
Jun 30, 2007 - 02:53am PT
It's a lazy, shortened form of 'ascend'. It came from sport climbers, the same ones who are afraid of long approaches because they will result in strong, heavy legs which compromise their redpoint attempts. Speaking extra syllables would make thier lips and jaws strong and heavy too, so it's better for thier climbing to speak in lazyified words.




Too bad they don't stick to the same principle when spraying about how great they are.
Roger Breedlove

climber
Cleveland Heights, Ohio
Jun 30, 2007 - 11:32am PT
So if send is some sort of backformation of ascend, why isn't it spelled scend?

Does that mean that the past tense is scended?

When spoken, this probably sounds best if pronounced 'scented,' which, while being somewhat childlike has the added benefit of being ambiguous and confusing out of context, conveys a sense of coming close, but ultimately failing: "I scented it, but could only pull through. Maybe next week end."

Buzz
TradIsGood

Happy and Healthy climber
the Gunks end of the country
Jul 1, 2007 - 11:23am PT
Roger, that is a layup.

Climbers spell "ascend" assend, acsend, essend (OK that is probably LEB only), and asend. I believe "asend" was then corrupted briefly into a noun form, "a send", by a climbing magazine article. It was later shortened by dropping the article and reverted back to a verb.

See also wrap and rap as abbreviations for rappel, or is it rapell? :-)
Ed Hartouni

Trad climber
Livermore, CA
Jul 1, 2007 - 12:06pm PT
so, this is all idle speculation, people...

...the proper way to pull the etymological threads is to report usage of the word in the way we are interested in trying to understand.

So, challenge to you all (at least you all with access to the climbing literature or can report on history):

when did you first hear or read the word 'send' used in the climber sense, e.g.

"I sent the route"

?


report here with the citation in the literature or the date, place and idenitity of the overheard usage.

Ed Hartouni

Trad climber
Livermore, CA
Jul 1, 2007 - 03:51pm PT
What?! no one took up my challenge??

It seems that the intransitive verb "to send" first appeared in Climbing around the beginning of 2000. That also corresponds to an editiorial change at the magazine (going from the famous white spine to the colored spines). I don't have #191-193, but it seems that for a quick look, #194 has the first usage.

I would guess the origin of "to send" comes from bouldering, and involves the act of making an ascent of a boulder problem or difficult route after working on the moves, then sending the route in the local style.

When I was looking I found that the quickest way to find the word was to look at articles related to doing difficult routes at the limit of climbing, which includes sport routes and bouldering, and in competitions.

Climbing #258
page 28, Hot Flashes

"This spring, standards continued to rise across the board. Take 14-year-old Adam Ondra's April 7 redpoint of Erfolg ist trainierbar reclimbed (5.14d), at Austria's Adlitzgraben crags, for example. Women climbers, however, have made their marks, too - as with Josune Bereziartu ticking Powerade (5.14c), at Huesca, and Irati Anda doing White Zombie for her first 5.14b. Still, the sending didn't stop with these Basque women..."

Climbing #224
page 16, Basecamp (by Tommy Caldwell)

"Beth amazed me with her slab-climbing abilities - and sent the 5.13c crux within a few tries - while it took me a few days to suss it out."

Climbing #207
page 24 Basecamp (notes in margin)

"After four years effort, Chris Sharma sends probably 5.15 at Ceuse, France."

Climbing #199
page 30 Hot Flashes (Dave Pegg)

"The reason for all those air miles was Ghetto Boys, an unclimbed, open project left of Infectious Groove. The Frenchman came close to sending on his first trip and was back for revenge."

Climbing #195
page 14 Tami Knight illustration titled "Bouldering iz the Haiku of Climbing"

Climbing #194
page 52 Inside Game (Christian Griffith)

"Sharma cranked problem three before his fans could recover from his astounding send of problem two."

Ed Hartouni

Trad climber
Livermore, CA
Jul 1, 2007 - 04:47pm PT
of course, Climbing is probably somewhat behind the times... at least in terms of climbing slang...

...looking at rec.climbing news group we find the entry 1995 entry:


>I'm curious about the origins of the phrase "send it" that
>has appeared in recent postings, such "Mr. Hotshot sends A Real
>Tough Climb." I gather that this means a successful ascent. Where
>did this phrase come from? It seems not a very appropriate term to
>describe climbing. I can imagine it might apply in football, where
>one player "sends" the ball to his teammate, or in basketball, one
>"sends" the ball through the hoop, or in baseball one could "send"
>the ball over the fence. But rock climbs seem singularly resistent ...


Actually, this annoying term is not new and has been around for four
or five years now. When I first heard the expression, it was said
to have come about by shortening the phrase "ascend it", but this is
completely unverifiable as far as I know.



and deep down in another 1997 post

'Send as in "c'mon! send it! go, go!" to climb it without falling.'
Ed Hartouni

Trad climber
Livermore, CA
Jul 1, 2007 - 05:42pm PT
ok, here is another take on where the phrase came from...

once working out all the problems on a particularly difficult boulder problem or sport lead, you send news of the accomplishment to the climbing magazines...

so to send a route is actually sending info that you had done it, thus it has to be a difficult route, perhaps not done before or not often or at the defined limits of the sport.
Mighty Hiker

Social climber
Vancouver, B.C.
Jul 1, 2007 - 11:37pm PT
The imperative for the French "climb" is ascendez. Perhaps it derives from their usage - crying "ascendez!" could easily morph in to "send!".

Not that we need any of these noises in the field...
G_Gnome

Trad climber
Knob Central
Jul 1, 2007 - 11:58pm PT
Really, Fish invented the term 'send' when talking to Schockley, who was out of his mind on acid at the time, and Russ was trying his best to make some point.
Ghost

climber
A long way from where I started
Jul 2, 2007 - 12:23am PT
From at least a far back as the mid/late 90s it's been used in the sense of "sent that one back where it belongs." "Sent it back to hell" "Sent it packing"

d

Tom

Big Wall climber
San Luis Obispo CA
Jul 2, 2007 - 01:12am PT
Royal Robbins didn't specifically mention 'send' in his 1970's Rockcraft books, but he did point out that "climbers seem to be inordinately fond of single syllable words" (i.e., 'pin' vs. 'piton').

'Ascend' has one too many syllables, according to his hypothesis/observation. 'Send' would be a logical proximinous term (is that even a real word???)


EDIT: I A.R.ly changed 'e.g.' to 'i.e', and " to ' .
Raydog

Trad climber
Boulder Colorado
Jul 2, 2007 - 01:14am PT
nice Tom, you nailed it.

RE:
"just like those people with their pants hanging down to their crotch."

hahaha! Werner, you are so cool...

you mean like these guys?
Deacon and DJ Kno of the brilliant Hip Hop duo, the Cunninlynguists
Oli

Trad climber
Fruita, Colorado
Jul 2, 2007 - 02:49am PT
When you hang on all that gear and lower and rest and rehearse, or whatever, and pretend you did it free, you have sinned, i.e. send.
Ed Hartouni

Trad climber
Livermore, CA
Jul 2, 2007 - 11:01am PT
Pat brings up an interesting point, "to send" is a different quality of ascent than on-sight-betaless-flash (which doesn't have a verb yet, unless you're old school and refer to such a thing by the verb "to climb").

"To work" a route implies action in process. A route can be worked from bottom to top, etc, but the feeling is that the finale should be ground up with no hangs, etc: "the send." Working the route is implied in the use of sending it, so when I hear that a route has been "sent" I always think it has been "worked."

While this seems to be bad style for sport and gear routes, in bouldering "problems" are most often worked, with the final attempt being the send, making it through the sequence of moves from the start to the finish. No controversy here.

There has been a long running debate (at least since the 70's) regarding the legitimacy of "working" a route. However, that style has pushed up the difficulty of routes, many of which have bouldering style moves to overcome difficulties. This is certainly a better style than punching in a bunch of bolts to bypass the difficulties.

In Lito Tejada-Flores' essay Games Climbers Play the climbing "games" (e.g. bouldering, cragging, alpine, etc) where proposed to be hierarchical, and it was deemed unacceptable to use the methods of the more complex style when doing a climb of a less complex style... e.g. using cragging technique to overcome a boulder problem, or seiging an alpine route expedition style.

Here is an interesting case where the techniques of bouldering is not acceptable for a more complex style.

The times, they are a changing...
G_Gnome

Trad climber
Knob Central
Jul 3, 2007 - 12:55pm PT
Ed, the new term is 'I OSF'ed that baby'. 'On Sight Flash' is the only send that counts? To some degree I get the most satisfaction from sending a route that has taken me some tries to get. Yes, it's nice to OSF a route but often that just means the routes was not at the absolute top of my capabilities. Now, I have only ever 'projected' one route in my life, but to try a route a few times over the course of a season and finally send it is very rewarding. I actually think there is too much emphasis on the OSF now days, at least in the crowd I hang in.
Mighty Hiker

Social climber
Vancouver, B.C.
Jul 3, 2007 - 01:00pm PT
"When you hang on all that gear and lower and rest and rehearse, or whatever, and pretend you did it free, you have sinned, i.e. send."

Pat's pun leads to another. In the 19th century, Britain governed most of what is now India. They steadily expanded to the west and north, into what is now Pakistan and Kashmir. General Napier was once put in command of forces sent to the area, but under instructions not to occupy Sind, a southern province. He did so anyway, out of military necessity, and supposedly his telegram announcing he'd done it was one word of Latin: "Peccavit". Which means, in English, "I have sinned".

I guess you have to have learned Latin in an English public school to make bilingual puns like that. Although apparently not a true story, it's a good one.
Wonder

climber
WA
Jul 3, 2007 - 01:09pm PT
G Gnome, your right about the Fish thing.
eeyonkee

Trad climber
Golden, CO
Jul 3, 2007 - 01:57pm PT
Darlin' youoouuooouu send me....
neebee

Social climber
calif/texas
Jul 4, 2007 - 12:08am PT
hey there all....hmmm, obviously, this is an unskilled, and just as clueless rendition of the word...

having a "send"---three, to choose from, depending on the mood at hand:

upon setting out to climb:
s-incerely
e-nergized,
n-ot
d-elusional

upon reposing after a climb:
s-incerely
e-nthralled,
n-now
d-elighted

waiting for the next climb:
s-incerely
e-mpty,
n-one-the-less
d-etermined
goatboy smellz

climber
लघिमा
Aug 12, 2014 - 12:29pm PT
I think neebee sends this debate.
mouse from merced

Trad climber
The finger of fate, my friends, is fickle.
Aug 12, 2014 - 01:29pm PT
Another one of Locker's 'goons.'
http://www.supertopo.com/climbing/thread.php?topic_id=203475
http://www.climbing.com/climber/stone-monkeys-modern-stonemasters/

I know it goes further back, of course, MH.

"Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you."--JC, Ascensionist Extraordinaire

Anyone check the Oxford English Dictionary?

I don't have one handy.

GoatBoy,
I think neebee nailed it, she didn't send nothin'. :0)
Brian in SLC

Social climber
Salt Lake City, UT
Aug 12, 2014 - 02:00pm PT
If its brown...send it down...

Sent him packing...ie...finished with it.
Braunini

Big Wall climber
cupertino
Aug 12, 2014 - 04:52pm PT
Research "sick" next
mouse from merced

Trad climber
The finger of fate, my friends, is fickle.
Aug 16, 2014 - 11:43pm PT
Enclosing a money order. Thank you.
Sierra Ledge Rat

Mountain climber
Old and Broken Down in Appalachia
Aug 17, 2014 - 07:16am PT
I hate that fuking word
Swami Jr.

Trad climber
Bath, NY
Aug 17, 2014 - 08:08am PT
Ed Hartouni for president!
all in jim

climber
Aug 17, 2014 - 08:41am PT
Send, in climbing terms, did not evolve from the word ascent.

It started in the late 80s in places like Rifle and American Fork and has to do with the word send, as in "put a stamp on it and send it", meaning, you're done with that route. It's a dismissive term.
Todd Eastman

climber
Bellingham, WA
Aug 17, 2014 - 09:23am PT
I heard that at a comp in the late-80s a climber, nicknamed "Metal Head" was clinging to the crux for a while and someone in the crowd yelled up' "send it Metal Head", the crowd joined in and...

... that's the story I heard from Lester some two decades ago.
crøtch

climber
Mar 30, 2015 - 08:05pm PT
Today I came across an instance of "send" used in a surfing context. From Surfline's comparison of Desert Point and Skeleton Bay...

Clint Cummins

Trad climber
SF Bay area, CA
Mar 30, 2015 - 08:17pm PT
An older expression was to "dispatch the crux".
Definition 2 below.
"send" would be a shorter version of this.
E.g. "finish", possibly after prior working of the route.

dis·patch
dəˈspaCH/
verb
1.
send off to a destination or for a purpose.
"he dispatched messages back to base"
synonyms: send (off), post, mail, forward, transmit, email
"all the messages were dispatched"
2.
deal with (a task, problem, or opponent) quickly and efficiently.
"they dispatched the opposition"
synonyms: deal with, finish, conclude, settle, discharge, perform; More
Studly

Trad climber
WA
Mar 30, 2015 - 08:39pm PT
Is it that the etymology of send is Sender Films. If not, maybe it should be...?


[Click to View YouTube Video]
HighTraverse

Trad climber
Bay Area
Oct 28, 2017 - 11:57am PT
So the ever pedantic Hartouni came through with the historical goods.

Velly Intelesting, but Stlange

You gotta remember Laugh In for that one. 20 points for whoever can name the speaker.

Neebee, the non-climber has the best reduction.

Mighty Hiker has the best diversion, to "dude" or preferably "DOOD!".

And Tami The Valley Maven:
When I first heard it, I thought "Valley Girl" was YOSEMITE Valley girl. HAHAHAHAHAAHHA

really made me laugh because Yosemite Valley Girls were all I chased in those days, even occasionally successfully.

I hope we haven't SENT this topic yet
Ed Hartouni

Trad climber
Livermore, CA
Oct 28, 2017 - 12:14pm PT
[Click to View YouTube Video]
MH2

Boulder climber
Andy Cairns
Oct 28, 2017 - 07:48pm PT
Then:

So-and-so sent such-and-such.



Now:

He or she cleaned the route.

(Meaning they climbed it cleanly with no falls or hangs, I am guessing.)
johntp

Trad climber
socal
Oct 28, 2017 - 11:33pm PT
It's a lazy, shortened form of 'ascend'.

That's my understanding. I'm old school and thinnk it is stupid. We "climb". But whatever floats your boat.
hamie

Social climber
Thekoots
Oct 29, 2017 - 12:11am PT
Another word which I find strange, and mildly irritating is "rig". As in "He sent that rig", which means "He did that climb." Anyone know the origin? It may only apply to first ascents?


"Yeah! Go send yer rig dude! Yeah! Awesome!"
Marlow

Sport climber
OSLO
Oct 29, 2017 - 12:14am PT

I prefer the process-focused "allez, allez" to the result-focused "send"...
AP

Trad climber
Calgary
Oct 29, 2017 - 09:11am PT
This like trying to figure out the origin of 4:20.
MH2

Boulder climber
Andy Cairns
Oct 29, 2017 - 11:52am PT
This like trying to figure out the origin of 4:20.


While looking for the first use of "OK" or "Okay" in print.
neebee

Social climber
calif/texas
Nov 4, 2017 - 05:05am PT
hey there, say, high traverse...

happy good eve, to you, :) and, a hey there to tami, too :)

saw this a bit late, :))
as it popped up... it is nov 4, now, :)
neebee

Social climber
calif/texas
Nov 4, 2017 - 05:12am PT
hey there say, ... goatboy smellz...

wow, i missed seeing you, that night...

here is the repeat, and i am so glad you enjoyed it,
sure was fun!

hey there all....hmmm, obviously, this is an unskilled, and just as clueless rendition of the word...

having a "send"---three, to choose from, depending on the mood at hand:

upon setting out to climb:
s-incerely
e-nergized,
n-ot
d-elusional

upon reposing after a climb:
s-incerely
e-nthralled,
n-now
d-elighted

waiting for the next climb:
s-incerely
e-mpty,
n-one-the-less
d-etermined
MikeL

Social climber
Southern Arizona
Nov 4, 2017 - 07:17am PT
Will:

“Send,” . . . as in “to dispatch,” “to be rid of.”

In an dated use, to dispatch something or someone would be to take them out, to kill them, to take them off the list, to send them either to hell or heaven.
donini

Trad climber
Ouray, Colorado
Nov 4, 2017 - 07:43am PT
It seems to me that “send” along with “take” and “dirt me” all evolved with the advent of “sport climbing.” Other choice additions to the venacular have been “red pointing,” “projecting” and “hanging dogging.” Oops...I almost forgot “dry tooling”...one of my favorites.
There was a time when just “going climbing” sufficed.
Flip Flop

climber
Earth Planet, Universe
Nov 4, 2017 - 04:08pm PT
Ski terminology
"Send it in to the New Year"
That is all
throwpie

Trad climber
Berkeley
Nov 4, 2017 - 04:15pm PT
I say old man, a cuppa tea for every knee.
clinker

Trad climber
Santa Cruz, California
Nov 4, 2017 - 05:19pm PT

Is it certified? You may want to get the assent notarized before proceeding.

The word “send” is the present perfect tense of the verb while the word “sent” is the past tense and past participle tense of the verb. Both have progressive forms with the word “send” being used in its present form and the word “sent” in its past form.


The past tense of ascend is ascended.

The third-person singular simple present indicative form of ascend is ascends.

The present participle of ascend is ascending.

The past participle of ascend is ascended.

Commonly Confused Words: Ascent vs. Assent

What does each word mean?
The Spellzone dictionary defines ascent as ‘an upward slope or grade’or ‘the act of changing location in an upward direction’.
Click here for the full Spellzone dictionary definition of the word.
Here is ascent used in some example sentences:
At first it was a steep ascent, but then the incline grew shallower.
My essay is on the President’s ascent to power.
The ascent takes three days.
Click here to find the Spellzone vocabulary lists featuring the word ascent.
Assent, as a noun, means ‘agreement with or approval of a statement or proposal to do something’. As a verb, it means ‘to agree to do something’.
Click here for the full Spellzone dictionary definition of the word.
Here is assent used in some example sentences:
She nodded assent.
There was a murmur of assent.
‘I agree,’ she assented.
We can’t take the children on a school trip unless their parents assent.
Click here to find the Spellzone vocabulary lists featuring the word assent.
Where does each word come from?
The word ascent has been used since around 1610, and was modelled on descent/descend. Ascend, which ascent derives from, comes from the Latin ascendere. Ascendere means ‘to climb up, mount, ascent, to rise, reach’.
Assent was first used in English in the early fourteenth century. It comes from the Old French assentire which means ‘agree; get used to’.
Are there any tricks to help remember the difference between these words?
An ascent is a climb. Both words are spelled with the letter C.
Someone who agrees to do something might say, ‘Sure!’ Both sure and assent are spelled with the letter S.
Say to yourself, ‘The two Ss must agree to stand next to each other in order to spell assent.’
Think of the C in ascent as a slope to help you remember what the word means.
rincon

climber
Coarsegold
Nov 23, 2017 - 12:23pm PT
https://www.tetongravity.com/video/ski/skier-absolutely-sends-corbets-couloir-first-go-ski-community-is-stoked
hellroaring

Trad climber
San Francisco
Nov 23, 2017 - 02:36pm PT
Sounds like a sandbagged question to me...
ontheedgeandscaredtodeath

Social climber
Wilds of New Mexico
Feb 26, 2018 - 03:56pm PT
I remember "send" being used beginning in the mid-90s.

Anyway, the term has crept into skiing with some pretty funny additions. Mainly the term is now used in freeride (a judged sport usually taking place on double black diamond / "extreme" terrain where skiers are given points for line, style, airs, etc). Phrases include "getting sendy," landing a big air can be "stamped and delivered," and launching a big air is "shipping beef." This etymological knowledge is delivered directly to you via my 12 year old.
Toker Villain

Big Wall climber
Toquerville, Utah
Feb 26, 2018 - 03:59pm PT
Yeah, I heard it in the olympic coverage.



AP, 4:20 came from the time college students got home and got high.
AP

Trad climber
Calgary
Feb 26, 2018 - 04:35pm PT
Ron
I am sure there at least 5 plausible sounding explanations.
RURP_Belay

Big Wall climber
Bitter end of a bad anchor
Feb 26, 2018 - 04:56pm PT
The only word that makes sense after "Yah! Go!"
Oplopanax

Mountain climber
The Deep Woods
Feb 27, 2018 - 11:53am PT
All you "it came from ascend" wankers never heard of Jack Mileski, or what?
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