It also makes it more convenient for packing your board for travelling purposes.įetch - the distance the wind blows over the water.įin - a curved bit hanging down from the bottom of the surfboard near the tail (back of board). This is definately an advantage as if a fin breaks on your board you can easily replace it, where before you'd need a new one glassed back on (fibreglass that is). It is a type of fin that is fully removable from the surfboard. Some even get cocky and ride with their dogs or passengers on the nose of their boards!Ĭlose Out - condition where waves break all the way across a bay or normally safe channel rendering a surf spot unridable (because surfers can't paddle out to the line-up).Ĭut-back - a surf manoeuvre, its a 180° turn that's done on either of the two rails of the surfboard, basically reversing the direction that you are surfing in.ĭeck (of the surfboard) - the top-side of the surfboard (the side you stand, lay or sit on).ĭrop - the initial downward slide on the face of the wave after taking off and before the bottom.ĭrop In - to cut in on someone else's wave, you definately won't be popular if you do this!ĭumping - a scenario similar to a 'clean-up-wave' or 'close-out' where a wave breaks in big sections making it un-surfable.Įating It - another word for wipe-out (falling off your board).įace (of the wave) - the part of the wave where the lip begins to curl overhead.įCS - this stands for 'Fin Control System'. Look in any surf history book and you'll see images of Hawaiians walking down their old long longboards.

Surfers love to be in the barrel, otherwise known as the 'tube' or 'green room'.īeach Break - a wave that breaks over a sandy beach, best suited for learning to surf.īlown-out - unridable, due to the wind's blowing so hard that the surf is chopped up.īoardies - board shorts worn by surfers in warm water (not the UK!), they are generally knee length, quick drying and lightweight.īottom Turn - a surf manoeuvre, where a turn is made at the base of the wave when coming down off the face wave.īowl - a shallow spot in the path of the wave that causes the wave to break a little harder.īrah - a word used by native Hawaiian's in reference to a surfer friend.Ĭaught Inside - stuck on the shore-side of a breaking wave (going to take it on the head!).Ĭarve / Carving - what sufers sometimes say referring to surfing waves, or turning the board on or through waves.Ĭhannel - a relatively deep spot where the waves don't normally break.Ĭlamshell - condition that occurs when the lip section in front of the surfer doesn't break smoothly and gradually, but chomps down suddenly, eating up the surfer in one ruthless bite.Ĭlean-up-wave - a wave that breaks outside of the line-up and dumps on the entire line-up.Ĭross Step / Stepping - a rather fancy manoeuvre performed on a longboard, where the surfer literally cross-step's or walks down the length of their board while still riding the wave. The barrel is where the wave is hollow when it is breaking.

The mass commercialism of the sport via the media is almost directly responsible for this spread.īelow are a selection of commonly used surf lingo and their definitions, so next time you are on the beach at Waikiki or J-Bay you'll know what the hell their talking about…ġ80 or 360 - a surf manoeuvre, more commonly associated with skating, this is where the surfer performs an aerial turn of 180° or 360°.Īerial - part of a manoeuvrewhere the surfer and his/her board leaves the water.Īir - after a good bottom turn with lots of speed, head up the face, off the lip and into the sky.īarrel - a hollow-faced wave. The amazing thing about surf culture though is how these words have made their way from the shores of California, Hawaii and Australia, to mainland big cities, miles from the coast, and surfing as a whole! To our school playgrounds, television and movie screens, bars and even our literature. Then of course you have the stereotypical slang like dude, radical, cowabunga and a whole host of similar words.

Then there are unique surfer terms like grommet, in the soup, mullering, pipeline, stoked and worked. There are certain surf terms that are recognised by the wider society, words or terms like beach break, offshore and swell. This language is basically slang, which only members of the surf community can understand, thus successfully excluding itself and its members from the wider society. Surf culture has developed its own form of language.

Riding inbetween two waves surf lingo