Background information

Linguistic virtuosity: where is the butter zone?

12.2.2019

Translation: machine translated

The unsung heroes of the sports scene sit in manufacturers' offices. They come up with spectacular words for even the simplest innovations and spread this "slang" that nobody understands. Have you ever heard of the butter zone?

Whether you're looking for skis, snowshoes or a new outdoor jacket; manufacturers always have a bevy of complicated technical terms like Hyperflux-Retrac-Spaceshutter™ to describe their technologies. It could be a new swimming costume membrane with laser-integrated Michael Phelps DNA to help you shatter your records - but that's fiction. Unlike the butter zone. A wonderful term that doesn't sound like a world record, NASA technology or a high-tech material. But so sweet that it stimulates the imagination and has found its way out of sports slang into a product. But into what?

"I don't want to be disturbed in my butter zone"

I ask my office neighbour what he imagines under the term butter zone: "A code for something erotic? The counterpart to the bikini zone?", suggests Patrick Bardelli. As the DIY queen of the team Carolin Teufelberger thinks more along the lines of something practical: "A well-oiled part of the bike?" and Natalie Hemengül is thinking more of a synonym for "buoy". Which is to say: love handles. I like the way things evolve. Meanwhile, the whole editorial office has become a butter zone; the term has taken on wings: "I don't want to be disturbed in my butter zone," shouts Bardelli.

At the end of the day, which product has the butter zone?

Functional undershirts

X-Bionic Energy Accumulator Evo Patriot Swiss Edition

S, M

Skis

Völkl Bash 86

172 cm, Without binding

Trampoline

Exit Supreme Ground Level

366 cm

Functional undershirts

X-Bionic Energy Accumulator Evo Patriot Swiss Edition

S, M

Skis

Völkl Bash 86

172 cm, Without binding

Trampoline

Exit Supreme Ground Level

366 cm

The butter zone is located...

... in the T-shirt. Directly next to the Energy Accumulator.
22%
... on skis. Perfect in combination with the P-Tex 2100 rubber.
60%
... in the trampoline. The sweet spot of the V-Max Jumping Sheet.
18%

The competition has ended.

So you don't have to look directly at the solution, I'll quickly butter a slice of bread in GIF form.

Things are going swimmingly with the freestylers

By the way, freestylers haven't reserved the term. In the Urban Dictionary, various definitions are discussed. In sporting terms, an athlete who is extremely focused, on the move, is "on fire", in their "butter zone". But all this is nothing concrete.

In contrast to freestylers. When they shift their body weight to do a "nose butter" or a "tail butter", they're only gliding over a small part of the sole of their skis or snowboard. It is exactly this area that is called the butter zone.

So Völkl has turned it into a technology and built models like the Bash 86 with "dedicated butter action flex zones". I even have to look up the adjective 'dedicated'; that's saying something.... Did you get all that? No? No problem. At Line Skis there are even 3D Butterzones™. Wow, wow, wow! Three dimensions of butter zone! By the way: you should always learn and do the tricks yourself. If I were to try something like that, my butter zone wouldn't look good.

9 people like this article

Michael Restin

Senior Editor

Michael.Restin@digitecgalaxus.ch

Simple writer and dad of two who likes to be on the move, wading through everyday family life. Juggling several balls, I'll occasionally drop one. It could be a ball, or a remark. Or both.

Sport

Follow topics and stay updated on your areas of interest

Background information

Interesting facts about products, behind-the-scenes looks at manufacturers and deep-dives on interesting people.

Show all

These articles might also interest you

Background information
Skiers advised to wear cut-resistant underclothes as crash protection
by Siri Schubert
video
Background information
Simply chocolate like a Sprüngli
by Patrick Bardelli
Background information
Word acrobatics: Where is the "Descent Control Technology" hidden?
by Michael Restin

1 comment

later

Search

Linguistic virtuosity: where is the butter zone?

"I don't want to be disturbed in my butter zone"

At the end of the day, which product has the butter zone?

Things are going swimmingly with the freestylers

These articles might also interest you

Skiers advised to wear cut-resistant underclothes as crash protection

Simply chocolate like a Sprüngli

Word acrobatics: Where is the "Descent Control Technology" hidden?

1 comment

Top 10 categories

Go to

1 comment

Galaxus Deal of the day