Glossary

A glossary of terms related to walking. Compiled by the community.

Glossary of walking art

There are currently 7 definitions in this directory beginning with the letter S.
scurrifunge
to work or walk hurriedly. from the Dictionary of Newfoundland English (University of Toronto Press, 1982). Many of these terms are from the 17th-century and were brought to Newfoundland with the settlers from England (the majority were from Wessex, mainly the counties of Dorset and Devon), and from Ireland (the majority were from a 30-mile radius of the city of Waterford). These terms survived here in Newfoundland after falling out of use in their original countries.
Submitted by: Marlene Creates

shuffle
In terms of negotiating ice underfoot, here in Quebec the Anglos don’t have the same lovely language as the Newfounders. We certainly shuffle. Another s word! We take small sliding steps, weight forward, no heel planting but full foot down. We think of it as a penguin walk (somthing you can visualize) — and are often attired in puffy warm dark clothing reminiscent of said sweet creatures.
Submitted by: Kathleen Vaughan

Slape
To 'slape' off…slippery, also from Icelandic – to become fee, to escape, to get off. It is thought possible that the Yorkshire dialect forms had the early meaning ‘to slip away’. Also in Yorkshire – slape ale is a free ale or a beer bought for you by someone else.
Submitted by: Karen Smith

Sleepwalking / somnambulism
Walking while asleep.
Submitted by: Louise Ann Wilson

Stank
(West Cornwall, slang) A walk of any notable distance. It's quite a way - "That's some (or brerm) stank". Fancy a hike? "Fancy a stank? "Where is he? "Oh, out stanking (walking)".
Submitted by: Chris Sawle

Suriashi-marche féminine
A project where performance and urban society are investigated from within a Japanese practice called suriashi (which translates as ‘creeping/rubbing/sliding foot’).
Submitted by: Ami Skånberg Dahlstedt

Surrogate walk/walker
A walk undertaken on behalf of someone who can no longer walk.
Submitted by: Louise Ann Wilson


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