Surfed

/sɜːrft/ verb

Definition

Past tense of surf: to ride on ocean waves using a surfboard, or to move quickly from one website to another on the internet.

Etymology

From 'surf,' possibly from 'sough' (the sound of waves) or related to 'surge.' The nautical sense dates to Hawaii in the early 1900s; the internet sense was coined in the 1990s as computing vocabulary.

Kelly Says

It's wild that the same word 'surfing' describes both riding ocean waves and browsing the internet—both involve riding something fast and unpredictable! The internet borrowed Hawaii's surfing culture because the experience felt so similar to early web browsing.

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