tubular
The origin and history of tubular.
Etymology
From Latin tubulus ("small tube") plus -ar. The slang sense meaning "awesome" comes from surfing culture, describing the hollow, tube-like curl of a great wave — and became a catchphrase of 1980s surfer and valley-girl slang.
Class of 1980
tubular first entered the language around 1980. Other words from the same year:
See the full Class of 1980 →