Does the word "gnarly" still mean something is "bad, gross, icky"

[Beaverhausen]

My 16 year old step daughter was visiting last weekend and used the word "gnarly" several times. We realized that she was using it to mean something was good, not bad like we used to use it to mean.

Did I miss something? Did the definition of this slang term get switched somewhere or is she just really confused?

[underpants]

1. No man gnarly is like rad

dope boss cool

[MrCoffee]

2. 16 year olds still say gnarly?

i use it to mean something good.

[Lautremont]

3. Gnarly is good, and has been so since 1982 (in the Valley),

and 1964 or so along the beaches of Southern California.

[Beaverhausen]

4. I always thought it meant something was bad

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/gnarly

apparantly so does dictionary.com :shrug:

[Reverend_Smitty]

5. I've heard of both usages...

however I thought the Valley Girl/Surfer dude usage of the word to mean cool went out like 20 years ago. If I were to use it in a sentence, I would use it to mean something bad. But who knows what the slangs are any more, I've given up on trying to stay on top of them so it could be in vogue again.

[MorningGlow]

6. Twenty years ago

In the early '80s, a friend of mine tried to revive "groovy". Didn't take. I'm surprised gnarly, with either definition, has survived. Must be more fun to say.

[MrCoffee]

8. wait, we're not saying groovy?

damn, i say groovy all the time.

of course, people look at me like i have a third eye...

[Beaverhausen]

7. Kicking for more replies

I'm still way confused. help meeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

[ceile]

9. I've always thought it meant "icky, gross, etc"

I never used it to mean something good. My friends and I routinely used it to make fun of dorky boys.

[conscious evolution]

10. It means both

As in: That gnarly wave kicked my ass!
or The waves were totally gnarly dude! We surfed all day!

[MrSlayer]

11. Gnarly was a double edged word. Could mean good or bad.

I should say is considering the teen you know is using it. I haven't heard anyone use the term since the 80's. Inflection and expression were (are) what let you know what was meant by it.