CLIMBING DICTIONARY

What do words do for us?
There are many studies showing that, without words, without language, we
cannot think. At least no more than a rat is able to think.
Having words and symbols to describe our world is not only necessary to our
ability to navigate it as conscious, intellectual beings, but words somehow
manage even to change our world in some fundamental way. We create words and
in turn they create us.
The proof that climbing is such a rich, nuanced and specialized micro-universe
is in our particularly quirky and interesting language. And the person at the
helm of our vertical lexicon is Matt Samet: climbing’s modern-day amalgam of
writers Shakespeare, Bierce and Webster.
Matt Samet has written hands down the most wickedly funny prose in climbing’s
considerable compendium. When I started as an intern, and then associate
editor, of Rock and Ice, he was my first mentor, and he taught me so much of
what I know. I’m excited to announce that Samet has released the Climbing
Dictionary—an essential compilation of our own slang, terms, neologisms and
lingo.
I highly recommend getting this book—it’s entertaining, informative and funny.
Every climber should have a copy, because mastering these words is the first
step to mastering the world of climbing.
Because I’m a fellow logophile, I was really interested hearing about the
process that went into compiling climbing’s first and very own dictionary, so
I sent my old mentor a few questions to pick his brain.