bonk

v. in bicycling, to become exhausted. Also bonk out and bonking, n. Subjects: English, Sports & Recreation

Editorial Note: Eric Partridge dates this term to the 1930s in his Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English (8e, 1984), but no citations are given. Editor Paul Beale tentatively connects it to bonk ‘a short, steep hill’; however, there seems to be no evidence to support this connection. The Oxford English Dictionary dates the noun bonk ‘(A sudden attack of) fatigue or light-headedness sometimes experienced by racing cyclists and other athletes’ to the U.K. in 1952.

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Citations: 1979 J.A. Cuddon Macmillan Dictionary of Sports and Games p. 119 @ HDAS (1994) J.E. Lighter: Bonk…A state of extreme fatigue caused by overexertion and lack of blood sugar. 1983 [Joe Bike] Usenet: net.bicycle (June 27) “Joe Bike reports from GEAR South”: As we took off to follow Scott back, we notice we had dropped Walter and the aforementioned bikie who bonked on the hill. 1984 Suzanne Charle New York Times (Sept. 23) “‘Go For It’: Making Your Way In A Triathlon”: But there is also the flip side, when fatigue hits all sets of muscles at once. If you’ve been riding hard and then start running, often it feels as if your thigh bones are no longer attached to your shinbones. Experienced athletes call this “cross-bonk.” 1986 James McNamara Washingon Post (Aug. 15) “Cyclist’s Challenge: Turning 100”: This is because such exercise will quickly deplete the body’s reserves, causing severe fatigue (in running this is called hitting the wall, in cycling it’s known as the bonk, which is the sound you make when you hit the wall). 1990 [Bruce Hildenbrand] Usenet: rec.bicycles (Jan. 26) “Primer for Getting Started in Bike Racing”: Even if you have a teamate in the break, chase it down. You never know when the guy could bonk and get dropped. 1990 Usenet: rec.bicycles (Apr. 25) “cadence matters”: My goal is to be able to increase my efficiency at the higher cadences so I can spin without “blowing up” (in a crit) or “bonking” (in a long road race). 2005 Ventura County Star (California) (July 4) “Cycling through the lingo”: Bonk: Term used to describe running out of energy when riding.

Posted 11 Apr 06 | Permalink | Tell a Friend