Deefstes
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Nope, I do not want to start another thread for SCUBA acronyms. I tried starting one for colloquialisms and acronyms some time back and it took off nicely but posters mostly focused on acronyms.
I'm particularly interested in hearing about expressions and colloquial language that is used in your SCUBA circles. Here are some that I've encountered:
Thumbing a dive: Aborting a dive and starting your ascent.
Sunshine and seagulls: The section of the SCUBA purlieus, situated directly above the water level, where breathable air in its more familiar uncompressed format is freely available. A diver that heads for sunshine and seagulls typically does so in a frenzied fashion and not after a controlled decision to "thumb the dive".
Topside: Similar to "sunshine and seagulls" (see above) but usually regarded by divers with a more relaxed disposition. Essentially, the main difference between the two is that "topside" is where most divers prefer not to find themselves while "sunshine and seagulls" is exactly where panicked divers prefer to find themselves.
Home gym: Weight belt of an excessively weighted diver.
Hot tub: Divers congregating on the surface after exiting the boat and before starting their descent.
Dive bombing the reef: The opposite of a "hot tub". Divers exit the boat and start finning for the reef/wreck/whatever-feature-is-to-be-found-at-the-bottom immediately.
Positive entry: See "hot tub"
Negative entry: See "dive bombing the reef"
Christmas Tree: A diver onto who's BC is adorned an entire catalog of gadgets.
Air hog: A diver who expends air in copious volumes. This is not necessarily used as a derogatory term and divers can often refer to themselves as air hogs.
Air diva: The opposite of an "air hog" (see above) but used mostly in a derogatory manner and certainly not used by the diver in question.
4x4 Dive: A dive during which the group swims against an uncomfortable current or surge.
Unsafety stop: A 'safety stop' performed by a diver during which no consideration is given to the position of the boat, mooring line, buoy line or currents and to what extend those might affect his/her chances of being located when finally surfacing.
Chumming: The act of depositing bait, fish scraps or other pieces of processed food into the water so as to attract marine life to the locale. This is done by fishermen or baited shark dive operators to improve the chances of catching fish or getting to see and dive with sharks. It is also done by vertiginous divers who make a peace offering to the ocean, in the form of that morning's bacon and eggs, in the hopes that Poseidon will lift their punishment.
Smuggling oysters: Surfacing after a dive with nasal mucus in your mask.
Nasal mucus: Antiquated term for snot.
Slightrox: The breathing gas in a cylinder that contained Nitrox but was topped off with air.
Washing machine: Seas with unfavorable surface conditions for launching a dive boat or seas with very unpleasant underwater surge making diving difficult.
That's about what I could come up with right now. Please add your own and feel free to correct me where I'm wrong. Please try to avoid posting SCUBA acronyms, there have been enough threads for those already.
I'm particularly interested in hearing about expressions and colloquial language that is used in your SCUBA circles. Here are some that I've encountered:
Thumbing a dive: Aborting a dive and starting your ascent.
Sunshine and seagulls: The section of the SCUBA purlieus, situated directly above the water level, where breathable air in its more familiar uncompressed format is freely available. A diver that heads for sunshine and seagulls typically does so in a frenzied fashion and not after a controlled decision to "thumb the dive".
Topside: Similar to "sunshine and seagulls" (see above) but usually regarded by divers with a more relaxed disposition. Essentially, the main difference between the two is that "topside" is where most divers prefer not to find themselves while "sunshine and seagulls" is exactly where panicked divers prefer to find themselves.
Home gym: Weight belt of an excessively weighted diver.
Hot tub: Divers congregating on the surface after exiting the boat and before starting their descent.
Dive bombing the reef: The opposite of a "hot tub". Divers exit the boat and start finning for the reef/wreck/whatever-feature-is-to-be-found-at-the-bottom immediately.
Positive entry: See "hot tub"
Negative entry: See "dive bombing the reef"
Christmas Tree: A diver onto who's BC is adorned an entire catalog of gadgets.
Air hog: A diver who expends air in copious volumes. This is not necessarily used as a derogatory term and divers can often refer to themselves as air hogs.
Air diva: The opposite of an "air hog" (see above) but used mostly in a derogatory manner and certainly not used by the diver in question.
4x4 Dive: A dive during which the group swims against an uncomfortable current or surge.
Unsafety stop: A 'safety stop' performed by a diver during which no consideration is given to the position of the boat, mooring line, buoy line or currents and to what extend those might affect his/her chances of being located when finally surfacing.
Chumming: The act of depositing bait, fish scraps or other pieces of processed food into the water so as to attract marine life to the locale. This is done by fishermen or baited shark dive operators to improve the chances of catching fish or getting to see and dive with sharks. It is also done by vertiginous divers who make a peace offering to the ocean, in the form of that morning's bacon and eggs, in the hopes that Poseidon will lift their punishment.
Smuggling oysters: Surfacing after a dive with nasal mucus in your mask.
Nasal mucus: Antiquated term for snot.
Slightrox: The breathing gas in a cylinder that contained Nitrox but was topped off with air.
Washing machine: Seas with unfavorable surface conditions for launching a dive boat or seas with very unpleasant underwater surge making diving difficult.
That's about what I could come up with right now. Please add your own and feel free to correct me where I'm wrong. Please try to avoid posting SCUBA acronyms, there have been enough threads for those already.
