"Floaty"

It is the most nebulous and frustrating word in all of yoyo.

When I say “floaty”, I know exactly what I mean, and I THINK that other people share that definition. But I’m always wrong. And it boggles my mind that it means something different to someone else… I can barely wrap my head around it because I feel like my own perspective MUST be the common sense, logical (as far as perception can have logic, which isn’t very far) way to describe float.

I wish the word would die, but I still find it useful sometimes so I’m just a part of the problem. :wink:

So, what is your definition, then? In the past I just assumed “floaty” was supposed to refer to any Yo-Yo that feels light and easy to move on the string, as oppose to feeling heavy, like a rock.

That’s pretty much it in a nutshell. Then people come in claiming that yoyos that feel like a rock to me (or at least “standard… halfway in-between… normal…”) are floaty and ruin the whole thing up. :wink:

The extra details are more about describing how a yoyo of the same weight as another yoyo can feel lighter when the scale indicates otherwise. And that’s when stuff gets silly. People are ultra hung-up on weight distribution (which helps) and almost completely ignore the effects of response, string bounce, and bias confirmation… which all ultimately affect perception.

Ah well. It’s argavamating.

Yeah, I think I’m going to be dropping the use of the word “floaty” from any Yo-Yo reviews I do from now on… or at least until the term gets a popular, standardized definition.

Not yet a definition that included buoyancy or water. Disappointing :wink:

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There ya go… :slight_smile:

Amazing coincidence. Just last night I had this lifelike dream. I saw the guy that came up with the term,‘Floaty’. He died Screaming in a fiery car crash.

I woke up smiling.

…Another Amazing coincidence. I calculate that Worldwide there are 37,276 Yoyo players on Earth. Astoundingly there just happens to be 37,276 different views of what Floaty actually means

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Here is a quick summary of the entire “Float” debate up till this point.

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I think this has already been expertly established here, but I still want to go ahead and say that the term ‘floaty’ is silly and it means nothing. That felt good to get off my chest…

I think I’ll coin a new adjective for ineffectually describing how a yoyo plays while I’m at it… ‘Zappy’…

Man, my Werrd Minute plays so zappy!

I use the term, and have to admit that I have found it useful. I use it to describe the way a yo-yo “seems” to hover in the air (more than usual) before it hits the string. Of course, the way a yo-yo “seems” to me to do anything is just my opinion, and others are free to disagree. But, when there is a general consensus about a yo-yo being “floaty,” it tends to stick. The term “floaty” is useful to those who use the term or might be interested (or not interested) in a yo-yo that fits that description. Everyone else might find it useless.

YYF Cypher seems floaty, and GY Model 10 seems very floaty to me. I prefer a more solid playing yo-yo, but those two are just fantastic players with “float.”

And, if you don’t like the term floaty…whatever floats your boat. :wink:

The way I see it, floaty is another word for nimble ie the yo-yo changes direction with less effort.

Whelp. I’m registering for next semester’s classes. I’m gonna tack on physics and get back to this thread in December. BRB

This thread made me smile… hahaha.

Floaty, it floats, feels light but it may not be… the Adv Scout feels “floaty” to me at 67g, which is heavy for many, but it floats on the string IMHO… YMMV.

Ask and you shall recieve.

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“Floaty” is a term most people know, but nobody can describe properly. I’ve played rim weighted yoyos that were floaty and I’ve played rim weighted yoyos that are solid. I’ve played light and fast yoyos that are floaty and I’ve played heavy and slow yoyos that are floaty. After a certain time, you know what it is, but you don’t know what makes it floaty.

Rule of thumb, if you can’t explain it easily, you don’t understand it yourself.

Neil DeGrasse Tyson can explain astrophysics to a regular person because he understands it.

If you can’t explain floaty to someone, you don’t know what it means.

Everyone has a different definition. Some people think light and fast is floaty, and others know that it’s not. If I were to give MY definition, others will disagree. I think the main issue is the lack of synonyms. Yoyo vocabulary is still underdeveloped.

For example “kuan” is a Filipino word that has no definition in the English language. In the same way, “floaty” (a yoyo word) has no synonym in the English language.

I would guess that the yo-yo term “floaty” was somehow derived from the actual word “floaty.” Perhaps definition #2 was simply related to the feel of the yo-yo, and “floaty” was born.  I happen to like the term.  :smiley:

Yeah, but those yoyos don’t have strings on. That makes a really big difference in floatyness or lack thereof.

Thanks I forgot about that.