C.W. Nevius clued us in to some surfing turf wars and comical lingo in his column today. There's apparently been a large number of newbies risking their lives at the treacherous Fort Point (the short stretch under the Golden Gate Bridge) in recent years, which has caused a lot of friction.

A lot of the conflict is the result of bad etiquette on the novice surfers' part, who are called "Barneys" (straight out of the barnyard) and their "Janitor" cousins, who use the new surf kayaks and stand-up paddle boards with long paddles that resemble brooms. But it's also due to the old-school surfers' frustration over the lack of waves.

There was a case caught on videotape in 2002, in which a couple of surfers were convicted of breaking a Berkeley newcomer's nose and holding him under the water, resulting in his having eight stitches in his head. Regulars say there have been many more such violent incidents since then that haven't been caught on tape. It might be a good solution to install surveillance cameras, which have been pretty successful in Southern California.

What say you, readers? Anyone with first-hand experience out there?