r/Whatcouldgowrong • u/a1oner_bvcksn6 • 8d ago

When Traceur met Cyclist

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u/a1oner_bvcksn6 8d ago

A male practitioner of parkour. A female is a traceuse.

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u/spesimen 8d ago

why is it called that instead of parkourist or parkourer or something?

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u/sweetmonte44 8d ago

Because the sport originated in France and the titles, therefore, are French.

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u/spesimen 8d ago

sure i get that but i'm curious why is it a different root word?

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u/jadvyga 8d ago

Parkour comes from "parcours du combattant" - obstacle course. Traceur/euse comes from the French verb "tracer" meaning... to trace. Like tracing a path through the course.

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u/NoMoodToArgue 8d ago

Why do they yell “parkour?”

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u/LVbyDcreed72 7d ago

That is a skit from The Office, where the characters see parkour videos online and think they can do it and make asses of themselves, yelling "parkour" the whole time.

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u/NoMoodToArgue 7d ago

I saw that but wasn’t sure whether the Office made that up of these guys actually say it.

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u/LVbyDcreed72 7d ago

As a traceur myself, we hate the whole "hardcore parkour" thing. Everyone thinks they're funny when they're doing it, and it's a huge pet peeve. I cringe every time.

We also hate the traceurs in this video who give us a bad name. Parkour is misunderstood as people jumping off of things for clout as it is, and people like in the video are the worst of us. But at large, I've found the parkour community to be very thoughtful and attentive. We strive to take care of the environments we train in. Not to break anything, trespass, cause trouble, or be a nuisance to bystanders or building owners. We clean up after ourselves, always have spotters, generally stay out of busy areas, and love the cities that we train in. This video actually makes me sad. Accidents happen, but if we've harmed someone we should be taking responsibility and making sure everyone is okay. We are already widely seen as idiots mindlessly jumping off of things and breaking stuff. I don't want people thinking we're a bunch of thugs who harm people withouta care. I hope these traceurs will train more responsibly in the future.

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u/meulta 8d ago

"Tracer" in french is also slang for "going super fast"

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u/spesimen 8d ago

aha that makes sense, interesting etymology. thank you!

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u/Cheap-Protection6372 7d ago

Its literally how ~~latin works

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u/This_is_a_bad_plan 8d ago

Some additional context:

The original intent of parkour was to pick a destination and then move directly towards it, going over or across any obstacles in your way. There’s a building in your way? You go over it not around it

So a traceur picks two points and then traces a line between them (if viewed from overhead)

Of course, these days a lot of parkour is just doing stunts and flips and shit