gun

Short for "big-wave gun," which in turn is a variation of "elephant gun." As reported in the February 1964 issue of Petersen's Surfing magazine, California-born big-wave leatherneck Buzzy Trent came up with the phrase in 1956 while working on a new streamlined 12-foot board with shaper Joe Quigg. "You don't hunt elephants [big waves] with a b.b. gun or a pistol," Trent told Quigg, trying to explai...