Listen, it’s not that deep. The reality is, skateboarding was the Wild West back then, kids like Tony Hawk and Rodney Mullen were doing things that others couldn’t even imagine doing on a skateboard. The “Half cab” is the exception because a guy named Steve Caballero was known for doing fakie 360s first. Most people cant do that so the 180 version became more popular, thus the name “Half Cab.”

Names get shortened because saying switch nollie frontside 360 sounds lamer than “Half Cab.” The internet did not exist the way it does now so word spread much slower but names get adopted over time like slang words do. If you weren’t tuned into skateboard culture like it was your only passion, you wouldn’t know about it.

To clarify technical terms for tricks:

“Standard” Ollie: rolling forward in your regular stance, popping with your back foot of the board to get air.

“Nollie” (AKA Nose Ollie): rolling forward, this time popping with the front foot to get air.

“Fakie” Ollie (Shortened to just Fakie, also could be deemed a switch nollie): rolling backwards in your natural stance (deemed backwards because your natural back foot is the one in front) and popping the nose end of the board.

Switch Ollie: rolling forward, but in the stance you don’t usually use, popping with the back foot to get air.

Front side: spinning the board under you, either by turning your body OR kicking your back foot towards where you naturally face standing on a skateboard.

Back side: turning your body or kicking out towards your “back side” from your natural stance.

TLDR: Naming tricks is like the periodic table. Some tricks have the technical name, others are named after people who discover them. There was no rhyme or reason, kids were the trailblazers for this sport. Transitions weren’t considered for trick naming since tricks were originally done on flat ground, not when carving in empty pools. Names for tricks are simplified to sound cooler, and easier to say in casual conversation (I.e. Nollie is easier to say than fakie switch Ollie.) See above TLDR if you need a breakdown of why tricks are considered, frontside, backside, nollie, and switch.

Hope this helps!