UKC

Anyone else hate the word 'hike'? 

In reply to Peterjk:

Context is everything.

In reply to Peterjk:

Not keen. "Walk" covers things.

In reply to Peterjk:

Prefer 'ramble'?

In reply to MG:

Yes, I think it is a word for "walking" used by people who never go walking. I wouldn't say I hate it. Just vaguely irritating and unnecessary. I would certainly treat anyone using it with suspicion.

In reply to Peterjk:

it's quite an old word.  which other expressions of long standing would you like to proscribe?

Though I agree that the adoption of the North American usage "Tax Hike" by our spineless highly paid media tongues is poor.

In reply to Peterjk:

Hike? What's not to like?

Ooooooo it rhymes!! 10 points to me

In reply to Peterjk:

My mum and uncle use "climb" where I would use "hill walk". Not "hill climb", but "I'm going climbing today" when they mean walking up a hill. I don't know if it is a generation or regional thing. 

I don't mind hike, at least it doesn't get confused with a different activity!

In reply to Peterjk:

It's one of those creeping Americanisms I don't really like, but I am happy that people are actually out there hiking/walking/whatever than sitting on their a$$es.

In reply to Morgan Woods:

People often say this but is it really? I've been aware of the word hike to mean walking in the hills for as long as I can remember, which is about 50 years. It's only very recently I've become aware of people claiming it is an Americanism.

Whilst it may be used more commonly in the US because "hill walking" is a less accurate description of they actually do, this would suggest it's a word of British origin: https://silverlight.store/history-of-hiking/

As would numerous other online etymology references.

I personally have no problem with the word, unlike numerous words of US origin which have infected climbing terminology in recent years.

In reply to pec:

Yep. We did lots of "night hikes" when I was in the scouts and just older, so late 80s ish. So that was a play on the normal term for a walk for the sake of it  Perfectly normal to talk about hiking back then as far as I remember.

In reply to TobyA:

It was around as a word when Wordsworth was ascending the Mighty Helvellyn

My father used it when he was in the scouts in the 1940s

In reply to Morgan Woods:

I do hope that was meant to be 'arses'.. And not the dreaded 'creeping Americanism' 'asses'...

In reply to captain paranoia:

Well, I was in a lovely old church reading the boards with the Ten Commandments on. I think the one about not coveting my neighbour's ass wouldn't look right with the English version.

In reply to Peterjk:

I've always taken the work Hike to mean a longer more arduous walk. And as others state, it's nothing new and American. In NZ they like the term "tramping" which always bugged me when I was there, so long as that doesn't come this was I'm happy.

In reply to Peterjk:

Nope. I've always referred to long hilly walks as hikes. Don't know if it's regional or not, but it's the term I hear more often.

I only came across the term rambling/ramblers on signs, pub names etc and only after moving down south.

Walking is something you do around town, or on a gentle woodland stroll. 

In reply to Peterjk:

Nope, I'll take the dog for a walk, or walk home after something. It's a hike if its for fun or needs kit. In practice walk < 5km, hike 5km+ 

Ramble however? Nah..

In reply to Peterjk:

I don't have any objection to 'hike' but I only ever use it when talking to North Americans. My experience is that most of them don't understand our use of 'walk' to describe a day out in rough terrain with a lot of up and down. It may be because mostly they don't have our relatively accessible countryside - places are either private or are a designated 'trail'.

In reply to Peterjk:

I quite like "hike" - it differentiates a walk from a "ramble", implying to me significant effort.

In reply to Peterjk:

Words fall in and out of fashion.  Who now talks of going for a ramble?  "Hike" isn't an Americanism, but it has perhaps fallen out of regular use. To me it implies something a bit more purposeful and organised than a walk, and possibly a bit tougher - we might describe something long and arduous as "a bit of a hike".  It is perhaps also associated with organisations such as the Scouts, which may be part of the reason it has fallen out of fashion. It's not a term I now use, but I don't find it objectionable.

We also often use language to differentiate ourselves. If we think of ourselves as "serious" hillwalkers, backpackers, climbers or mountaineers we might use those terms to distance ourselves from the groups we see on lowland paths with their trousers tucked into their socks and rubber caps on their walking poles, who are mere walkers or at best hikers. Which is nonsense of course, but very human.

In reply to Peterjk:

I tend to always refer to it as hillwalking and for some reason ‘hike’ makes me bristle (but I’m not sure why).

I quite enjoy the understated nature of using ‘walk’ which could describe a 10 min stroll with the dog or, for some, battling through dire winter weather in the dark on some sub-graded route.  Though maybe that’s an argument for using more specific language after all.

In reply to gethin_allen:

What's wrong with it? I think its quite nice that we have words that show regional variation. In Australia isn't hiking generally called "bush walking"?

In reply to Morgan Woods:

Is it an Americanism?  It's been used in Scouting for years.

In Manchester SSAGO in the 90s we used to joke about there only being two categories of going walking, a "big hike" or a "little bimble".

The Americanism that riles me slightly is "pack" instead of "rucksack" (which obviously is German-derived, give or take the umlaut it's German for "backpack"), though I think that may have come with increased prominence of the US brands like Osprey and Eastpak (in different areas of the market).

In reply to montyjohn:

Rambling gives the impression of lowland walks involving pubs and tea rooms.  And obviously the Ramblers group.

In reply to girlymonkey:

"Climbing Snowdon" is a very common wording in non outdoorsy people.

Also "free climbing" when meaning "free soloing" or just "soloing", the latter word being the more important one in the UK as aid climbing is rare.

In reply to Howard J:

No, I would definitely rank hikers below walkers in any hierarchy. Not as low as ramblers though.

In reply to Peterjk:

It's the difference in mindset between Americans talking everything up and British people having natural understatement, and I am always in favour of the latter.

For this reason, I am as much against the use of the word 'hike' as I am against people saying that they've 'conquered' something unless it's an illness, or 'smashed it' unless they've used sledgehammers, a wrecking ball, high explosive or similar.

Having recently turned 60, I can confidently blame young people for this.  And much else, obviously.

T.

In reply to Neil Williams:

Not bothered by that at all - in internet times its much quicker to type "pack" besides anything else.

The rucksack one that DOES annoy me completely though, is the invariably fat old blokes who insist on call their rucksack a "bergen". As if naming it after a small Norwegian city makes any sense to anyone. Yes, I know you used to be in the army (or at least used to play being in the army a lot), but you're not anymore. Grow up.

In reply to TobyA:

 >  call their rucksack a "bergen"

Perhaps now's the time to revive 'haversack'?

In reply to Rampart:

Or knapsack.

In reply to TobyA:

Though the original 'bergen' was based on a design by Bergans, the Norwegian manufacturer.

In reply to TobyA:

A Bergen is a very specific type of rucksack used by the Army (about 100l capacity, camouflage fabric, a lot of pockets), calling anything else that is indeed a bit silly.

In reply to Rampart:

This interestingly is derived from German too, meaning "oat sack" (Hafer = oat).

Wiki seems to suggest this refers to a single-strap design, but I have heard it used more generically.

In reply to Rampart:

We used to call my grandads his “heavysack “

In reply to Robert Durran:

The Yorkshire Ramblers were the first Brits down Gaping Gill main shaft (after a Frenchman!). So pretty hard even if from Yorkshire.

In reply to Rampart:

Please no! They were canvas with an iron a-frame and leather straps and you had to sew youth hostel badges onto them. Bloody awful!

In reply to Neil Williams:

Although people do! It does also seem that squaddies, boot necks etc call any pack a bergen. 

In reply to Morgan Woods:

Isn’t “ass/asses” pretty American? Haha

In reply to TobyA:

Indeed!

https://www.ukclimbing.com/forums/gear/rucksack_knapsack_or_backpack-657361....

In reply to TobyA:

its supposed to be Bergans (the firm) originally as they supplied mountain equipment but I think it bwcame confused with the town.  Haversack seems to have fallen out of use covers a backpack in different sizes as well as the shoulder baitbag variety.

I think pack is old fashioned for a load, as carried on the back or by a packhorse/mule or generic pack animal.

In reply to Peterjk:

I used to go Bog Trotting on Kinder Scout in the 70/80s.

In reply to Neil Williams:

Yes, but the word "Mount" must also be included in that phrase, for extra irritation

In reply to Peterjk:

I have a colleague who is a reasonably regularly walker and refers to walking up a hill as

"Go a climb"

Gears.....ground....

In reply to captain paranoia:

Isn't that a current American term? In an American course I did just a few years ago "the knapsack problem" figured prominently.

In reply to Forest Dump:

Does that apply to Munro's? There's a few that are under 5km up and down.

In reply to twentytwoangrymen:

But you'd probably have some kit or sustenance?

In reply to Peterjk:

Yes. Indubitably 

In reply to CantClimbTom:

I'm waiting to hear "Mount Wyddfa"

In reply to Forest Dump:

Next time, take your dog for a hike

https://www.mountaindog.uk/products/k9-sport-sack-rover-2-big-dog-carrier-b...

In reply to Peterjk:

hike (v.)

1809, hyke "to walk vigorously," an English dialectal word of unknown origin. A yike from 1736 answers to the sense. Not in widespread popular use until early 20c.

HIKE, v. to go away. It is generally used in a contemptuous sense. Ex. "Come, hike," i.e. take yourself off; begone. [Rev. Robert Forby, "The Vocabulary of East Anglia," London, 1830]

In reply to CantClimbTom:

Imagine the looks!

In reply to mbh:

No idea, but it's a long-established British English word.

Oh: see the linked UKC thread above...

In reply to Forest Dump:

and the smell in the bag

In reply to Peterjk:

Another fun topic.  I have used the word hike, referred to myself as a hiker and told the odd person to take a hike over the years.  Great word.

Dare I mention I am a member of the Ramblers.  I never go on rambles though, we go walking.

In reply to Neil Williams:

I'm sure its "Sending/ Sent Snowdon" now

I wonder if that means we're all "Senders" now  (grating my teeth just writing it)

In reply to artif:

If anyone says that to me I get very tempted to (and sometimes do) say something like "No, I climbed it, I didn't take it down, put it in a parcel and get Hermes to lose it".

In reply to captain paranoia:

The OED has it listed as having American origins

In reply to Neil Williams:

Or that other creeping Americanism...'backpack' for either a walk or rucksack.

In reply to Sean Kelly:

Backpacking to me is what people do when young and abroad with no fixed abode.  
 

This is an excellent thread for hill language related pedantry  and a lovely antidote to ‘this hike is a great hike see my video’ or ‘watch me as I tackle the MOST DANGEROUS PATH IN SCOTLAND’ culture.  

 

In reply to J72:

Agreed.  You go backpacking if you go bumming (itself an Americanism in that context, in UK English it has a rather different meaning ) around South East Asia as a student, say.

Going wild camping or doing an expedition isn't going backpacking.

In reply to timparkin:

Wiktionary places the etymology as low German or middle Dutch.

https://en.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/knapsack

It could then have gone via German/Dutch emigrees to the US, and into the UK during WW1 or WW2. But the UK use certainly goes back at least as far as WW2, it's a word my parents would use, and they're in their 90s.

So not a modern US import.

In reply to timparkin:

The OED like many other reference books, quite rightly changes is definitions to suit the times and try to reflect the current views.  Words and definitions come and go.  I belive Hyke was around in England, before Europeans got to yomping around North America in significant numbers and creating Americanisms.

In reply to Sean Kelly:

Is backpack really an Americanism? I thought they used terms like "thru-hike".

I have always used it to mean walking with your camping stuff over two or more days.

What I hate are its bastardisations, bikepack and fastpack (ffs). There may well be others by now. 

In reply to Peterjk:

'Hike' is very offensive to me (probably some misappropriation there somewhere).  I'll complain about it on twitter (very loudly) in 10 years time so you have to retrospectively apologise.

In reply to Robert Durran:

I'm from the US, and we use 'backpack' to mean just that - multiple days in the wilderness lugging stuff around and camping. 

"Thru-hiking" denotes undertaking one of several long-distance paths in the US from start to finish.  No-one would describe themselves as a thru-hiker otherwise.

Ahhh, you'll love 'Slack-packing" then:  doing sections of a path but getting picked up at the end of each day (or met by a camper van).

In reply to Peterjk: New Zealand tramping is worse, rambling is something else!

In reply to Stephen R Young:

I don't quite get tramping.  It's mainly on well engineered tracks and paths.  That is not my idea of enjoying a good time in the wilds.  Many city folk love it though. Gets them out and about at the weekend enjoying the views, for comparatively little effort.  My son loves it.  

In reply to artif:

I sent a piece of toast and marmalade just now. I am a toast sender 

In reply to Sean Kelly:

To ba fair we all talked of "backpacks" at the time and in the specific case  of the moonlandings

I think I was unaware of the term till I read about the astronaut equipment.

In reply to profitofdoom:

One very wet day I found a postage stamp affixed to the rocks below the twin chimneys that give access to the West ridge of Sgurr nan G.  Perhaps the entire Cuillin was "sent"?  This was 1995, was "sent" an expression then?

In reply to twentytwoangrymen:

Most Munros are a walk unless you are a hill runner. 

In reply to grectangle:

Ah, a friend of mine is currently slackpacking the PCT then!

Doable fannypacking?

In reply to Robert Durran:

I think I’m a specialist in slowpacking

In reply to J72:

My load is so big I'm a hunchpacker

In reply to Peterjk:

Not as much as I hate the word 'send' 

In reply to Peterjk:

Backpack has been used in the UK for a number of decades 

In reply to Brass Nipples:

Yes, we had a school backpackers club in the early 1980s, so at least 40 years. I can't imagine the teachers who ran it would have been early adopters of Americansims so it must have been around as a phrase well before that.

The club activity involved weekends in the hills carrying all our camping gear and often wildcamping*, not bumming around Europe.

*There's another phrase to annoy some people

In reply to Robert Durran:

Bro, you could totally slack-fanny the hell out of it

In reply to Stephen R Young:

I used to tramp. Now I trudge.

In reply to BuzyGoes Tramping not come from the word Tramp, a person who travels around on foot with no fixed way of life, other than "tramping" When I was a child there were a couple of men referred to as Tramps who would knock at the door and we would give them some food and a pot of tea.

Rambling to me, suggest thatt you don't know where youre going.

Hiking I prefer and that's how I've always known my walks in the hills.

As for "climbing". It is greatly and incorrectly overused. The number of people who say they have climbed to Everest Bace Camp!

Whilst I know that I could not make that trip and it can be strenuous, it's a walk. nothing more.

Great scenery and for many a life achievement, but a walk.

In reply to Co1in H:

Climbing simply means “going up something towards the top” be that an E11, vdiff, ladder, flight of stairs, mountain or hill.

It would be correct English to say you were climbing Snowdon even if that just entailed walking.

In reply to The New NickB:

I don’t use it (because of the confusion between activities when it is used to describe hillwalking) but ‘climbing the stairs’ is a very common everyday example of how in general usage it just means going up something.

In reply to Peterjk:

As with so much English, it is nuanced.  It is perfectly correct to talk about climbing a mountain, even though in many cases that can be achieved simply by walking.  However to talk about "going climbing" when you really mean hill-walking (as described by girlymonkey earlier) is unusual usage. To say "I'm going climbing" will probably be taken by most people to mean rock-climbing.

In reply to Peterjk:

I've always associated it with excess enthusiasm, khaki shorts and possibly group singing.

In reply to Peterjk:

For some strange reason it's become fashionable to dislike the word hike...

In reply to gimmergimmer:

khaki shorts, knobbly cleft stick (for supporting billycans too) and knobbly knees under a broad brim hat

to be honest it's always implied some effort so not a "hike" to the shops (unless you are hiking to them from Applecross over the Bealach na Ba or via the coast road to Shieldaig

In reply to jezb1:

People like to find ways of signalling that they are part of the “in group”. Rejection/adoption of language is a time honoured classic strategy. 

In reply to Peterjk:

"I certainly hate "hike" but "Trad" is even worse. Its Sport climbing and Rock climbing, and bouldering.

In reply to wercat:

Ah that is the phrase “I posted that, put my stamp on it”

In reply to Neil Williams:

I've always associated the word 'Hike' as an activity that the Scouts and the Famous Five would do and don't personally know anyone that uses it to mean going walking.
Maybe it's geographical? (I'm originally from South Wales and now live near Bristol)?
It might also be that the sort of person that would be a Scout would be a hiker and the vast majority of the rest of us are quite content with being a walker.