Tubular: A Totally Trip-tastic Term

Ahoy, brave surfers and nostalgic trendsetters! If your vocabulary hasn’t recently been assaulted by '80s-era jargon, permit this spectral navigator to reacquaint you with the gnarly, bodacious, spectacularly quirky slang-adjective—tubular.

Origins and Evolution:

Once an innocent, conventional English adjective describing objects resembling tubes (we hear you, plumbers), 'tubular' rode a cresting wave of Californian surf culture in the 1980s. Initially invoked by surfers describing particularly perfect, round waves—'tube-like' conditions ideal for catching the perfect ride—it soon did a renegade giant splash into mainstream slang, quickly evolving to mean outstanding, excellent, or utterly righteous, dude.

• Early surfing associations trace back as early as the 1970s Californian surf scene.
• It catapulted into mainstream popularity throughout the colorful era of MTV, big hair, and neon legwarmers—the outrageous 1980s.
• Though hitting its peak there, tubular saw a nostalgic revival among ironic millennials and retro-minded Gen Z scenesters.

Cultural Significance and Usage:

Tubular wears cultural references proudly, evoking images of Teen Beach Movie aesthetics, pixelated video game nostalgia, BMX bikes, and skateboard ollies. Primarily embraced by teens and young adults in surf communities, suburban skaters of SoCal, and anyone elsewhere craving a touch of laid-back vintage charm, tubular declares itself perfect for ironic appropriation by newer generations proving outdated cultural catch-phrases never truly wither away—they merely become memes.

• Widely popularized in movies, music, and TV shows of the '80s and early '90s; notable use in classics like Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (heroes in a half-shell, turtle power indeed).
• It now frequents neon-soaked Instagram captions, Tumblr aesthetics posts, and discussions by hipsters who vehemently deny being hipsters.

Variations and Alternative Spellings:

Being magnificently exuberant already, 'tubular' holds strong in its singular form, with few alternative spellings: the occasional use of 'tubularly' (adverb form) might emerge in ironic parody contexts or poetic jest. Meanwhile, numerous affectionate synonyms and related terms from the same wildly rad lexicon include:

• Gnarly
• Bodacious
• Radical (Rad)
• Righteous
• Bitchin’

Controversies & Shifts in Meaning:

While 'tubular' itself is hardly scandalous—little can't say the same for certain surf spots or hairstyles it once described—its radical rise and fall mark the fickle tides of linguistic popularity. Critics occasionally lampooned its apparent frivolity or overuse, particularly as its popularity worked its way inland from surf-centered origins to malls across middle America.

Yet, the term remains affectionately nostalgic among many, and the revival among younger generations is testament to a cultural love for poking fondly at retro aesthetics and cheesy dialogues. As the eighties experience a trendy cultural resurgence through contemporary shows like Stranger Things and synth-vaporwave aesthetics, one must admire how tubular refuses to lose its hold, resiliently surfing the waves of youthful irony through each succeeding generation.

A Final Haunting Note to Stiffen Thy Bones:

Rather like observing the titanic shadow of a whale erupting from murky depths beneath your surfboard, encountering the ineffable charm of 'tubular' invokes both exhilaration and faint terror—lest you be caught riding outdated slang or, worse yet, becoming hopelessly uncool. Rest easy, brave linguistic sea-farers, for if used with irony, nostalgia, and mild self-deprecation, tubular promises smooth surfing ahead—totally righteous, friend.