# What's a Sow-Cow, and why do figure skaters think it's high art? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 5, 2006, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-sow-cow-and-why-do-figure-skaters-think-its-high-art/371465 "2006-09-05T01:57:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Napier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Napier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Napier)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2006, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-sow-cow-and-why-do-figure-skaters-think-its-high-art/371465/1 "2006-09-05T01:57:54Z")
OK, probably “Sow-Cow” isn’t the way it’s spelled, but that’s what it always sounds like when we watch the winter olympics. So, what is it really named, and what distinguishes it from other moves where they jump into the air and rotate about their vertical axis before landing? ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2006, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-sow-cow-and-why-do-figure-skaters-think-its-high-art/371465/2 "2006-09-05T02:31:07Z")
Salchow. Like many figure skating jumps, it’s named after the person who first managed to do one. A description of jumps can be found here: [So You Wanna – Learn to do just about anything…](http://www.soyouwanna.com/SITE/syws/skating/skating3.html) ---
**Author:** ![SCSimmons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e495f1/32.png) [@SCSimmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCSimmons)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2006, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-sow-cow-and-why-do-figure-skaters-think-its-high-art/371465/3 "2006-09-05T02:57:18Z")
[QUOTE=RealityChuck] Salchow. Like many figure skating jumps, it’s named after the person who first managed to do one. [/QUOTE] Yeah, like Axel Rose, and the famous Joe Toe Loop. What? ---
**Author:** ![Lamar\_Mundane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lamar\_Mundane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamar_Mundane)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2006, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-sow-cow-and-why-do-figure-skaters-think-its-high-art/371465/4 "2006-09-05T03:31:01Z")
Don’t forget Flip Saunders. ---
**Author:** ![naita](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naita/32/5862_2.png) [@naita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/naita)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2006, 11:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-sow-cow-and-why-do-figure-skaters-think-its-high-art/371465/5 "2006-09-05T11:53:13Z")
[QUOTE=SCSimmons] Yeah, like Axel Rose, and the famous Joe Toe Loop. What? [/QUOTE] No, like Gustave Lussi and Axel Paulsen. Here are the etymologies from [www.m-w.com](http://www.m-w.com): > [@](#): > > salchow etymology: Ulrich Salchow died 1949 Swedish figure skater > > lutz etymology: probably irregular from Gustave Lussi died 1993 American (Swiss-born) figure skating coach > > axel etymology: Axel Paulsen died 1938 Norwegian figure skater The page on jumps linked to before describes six jumps, so half of the important ones are named for people, even if describing three as “many” can be nitpicked. ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2006, 11:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-sow-cow-and-why-do-figure-skaters-think-its-high-art/371465/6 "2006-09-05T11:56:09Z")
Don’t forget Dorothy Hamill and the “Hamill Camel” too. ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2006, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-sow-cow-and-why-do-figure-skaters-think-its-high-art/371465/7 "2006-09-05T18:46:00Z")
[QUOTE=Polycarp] Don’t forget Dorothy Hamill and the “Hamill Camel” too. [/QUOTE] How about the Hamill Cameltoe? ---
**Author:** ![Operation\_Ripper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/34f0e0/32.png) [@Operation\_Ripper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Operation_Ripper)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2006, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-sow-cow-and-why-do-figure-skaters-think-its-high-art/371465/8 "2006-09-05T19:38:27Z")
[QUOTE=Phase42] How about the Hamill Cameltoe? [/QUOTE] pic? ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2006, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-sow-cow-and-why-do-figure-skaters-think-its-high-art/371465/9 "2006-09-06T04:30:17Z")
And who can forget Susie Got-Dropped-And-Fell-Painfully-To-The-Ice? ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2006, 10:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-sow-cow-and-why-do-figure-skaters-think-its-high-art/371465/10 "2006-09-06T10:55:13Z")
The Biellman spin. The Tano lutz (a variation of the lutz done by Brian Boitano). ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2006, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-sow-cow-and-why-do-figure-skaters-think-its-high-art/371465/11 "2006-09-06T12:43:04Z")
And the Cynthia and Ronald Kaufman Death Spin. Not to mention the Surya Bonaly Back Flip (technically legal, but not allowed). ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2006, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-sow-cow-and-why-do-figure-skaters-think-its-high-art/371465/12 "2006-09-06T15:24:09Z")
[QUOTE=panache45] And who can forget Susie Got-Dropped-And-Fell-Painfully-To-The-Ice? [/QUOTE] By a remarkable coincidence, that was the original given name of this famous Native American skater, due to her mother having birthed her on a glacier. Why she thought it was a good idea to go into pairs skating is a mystery.