air - getting airborne

aerial - airborne maneuver

amped - charged up - stoked - fired

ankle snapper - barely ridable waves, ankle or slightly higher

backdoor - to pull into a tube from behind the peak

backwash - flood of water returning off the beach against incoming waves

baggies - Surfer swim trunks.

bail - to abandon a board - jump off

barrel - when the wave breaks in a cylindrical motion often allowing someone to get inside

beach breaks - wave is formed over sand and sand bars, can shift seasonally and from storm to storm

Beach Bunny - non surfing girl who frequent surfing areas, surf groupies

body board – a small board ranging from 18" to 48" or more, normally ridden with the legs hanging off the back. AKA boogie boards, sponge,

bogus - lame action, false idea or concept, also ridiculous, unfair, unbelievable

bottom turn - generally the initial maneuver on a wave, once standing, the surfer slides straight down the face of the wave and makes a radical direction turn at the bottom of the wave, in the trough

boost - getting airborne off the lip

brah - from bruddah, Hawaiian pidgin for brother

bro - a buddy or friend

bucket - helmet

bump - a swell

bumps - the build-up of wax on a surfboard deck.

Cant - angling the outside fins toward the rail so that the inner angle is 90 degrees + some number, helping make the board handle better on edge

carve - symmetrical, fluid turns

channel - a channel of deeper water where excess water, piled up by waves, flows out to sea

cheater five - five toes on the nose - keep your weight back on the board to maintain trim and speed, squat down and extend one foot forward

clean - wave faces are un-rippled - usually offshore or no wind

closeout - when the entire face of the wave breaks at once, giving no clean wave to surf on

clucked - afraid, intimidated by the wave

concave - indentation running lengthways on the bottom front third of a board intended to create lift, generally oval shaped

crew - a group of surfers defined by break or area

cross step - crossing one foot in front of the other while walking to the nose of the board, considered a stylish, classic maneuver

cutty - short for 'cutback' done further in front of a breaking wave where the surfer reverses course extremely, turning back toward the 'whitewash' - desired effect is to 'throw spray'

Ding - minor damage to a board or body

dogging - going backside in the pit

drop knee turn - a traditional method of turning a long board, the surfer places the back foot near the tail and drops the back knee so that the lower leg is parallel with the board

drop/dropping in - sliding straight down from the crest of the wave to the pit - usually followed by a carving bottom turn

dropping in on - catching a wave that is already occupied ... taking off on the shoulder while someone is taking off deeper

drop in late - catching the steepest part of a wave

dry sucking -  when the reef is exposed while the wave is forming

Dude - buddy, best friend, especially in the lineup, also used as an exclamation for just about anything

dune - a big peaky wave

duck dive - forcing the nose of the board through the wave by pushing the nose down and then kicking downward  with the feet.  this causes the board to "porpoise" under the breaking wave and back up to the surface on the backside of the wave.  it gets the name from the way it looks when it happens.

egg - refers to the slow rounded shape of a nose, tail or rail

face - clean, smooth wall on the shore side of a wave

falls - top of the wave pitches out and throws a waterfall shoreward.

fan - a fan of spray from a cutback or turn such as a water skier throws

fluff - spray off the lip

fetch – the distance a swell travels before it becomes surf. Can be used to determine the size of a wave: wind speed X time X distance

fish - short board with added width and thickness, designed to improve wave catching capability while maintaining performance, a short board for smaller conditions

the flats - the area out in front of the wave impact zone

flick nose - an increase in the rate of rocker near the nose

floater - riding above the breaking wave as it's breaking then landing with the 'lip' in 'the flats'

full on - with commitment and intensity

fun board - mid size board designed for ease of ride in smaller conditions,

gash - very sharp turn

Glassy - smooth surface to waves, no wind chop.

gnarly - awesome and intimidating, good

going off - a break under optimum conditions

gouge - sharp, fast turn

green room - inside a full cover-up tube

grem/gremmie - short for gremlin, a term for young, probably mischievous surfer, pre-adolescent surfer

green room - inside a full cover-up tube

grommet - adolescent surfer

ground swells - waves formed over vast distances, well formed and powerful

gunned - under-gunned or over-gunned refers to the size of your board in relation to wave conditions

gun - a board for big waves they are long, narrow, and pointy both at the nose and the tail for maximum rail contact. Usually thick and heavy and ranging in length from 7'to 10'

hang ten - getting all ten toes over the front edge of the board, being as far forward on the board as possible

heavy - descriptive of the power of the wave, "1 long tonne per square meter"

Ho-daddy - someone who rides around with a surf board on his car to look cool but can't surf

hybrid - boards ranging from 7' to 9' attempting to give some of the floatation and paddling of a long board as well as the performance of a short board.

impact zone - the point where the waves break for the first time

inside - where waves continue to break, reform, and break again if it's big enough

jag - retreat after getting worked

kook - someone regarded as eccentric or crazy and standing out from a group

leash - a line attaching the board to the riders ankle (short board), calf just below the knee (long board) or wrist (body board) - little elastic property, in line swivels to stop fouling, and optional quick release pins at the ankle.

line-up - just beyond the impact zone where you wait to catch waves

lip - curling lip at the top of a wave

log/stick - slang for surf board

long board - long boards are usually over 9' in length. Because of their size they are easier to paddle and get into waves sooner. On the downside, they can be less maneuverable.

macking - when huge waves, big and powerful as mack trucks roll in

nipped - nipples rubbed raw by board or wetsuit

noodle - exhausted, overall condition or specific as in noodle armed

nose ride – a maneuver unique to long boards, the surfer cross steps to the nose and rides on the very front of the board

noserider - board especially built for nose riding.

outside - offshore, beyond where the waves break Announcing OUTSIDE!!!!

overhead - waves that are over the head of surfers riding them

Over the falls - sucked down following the lip into the flats where the wave is breaking hardest, usually results in getting worked, or slammed

pop - kick out, exiting the wave with style

pit - the most hollow portion of a breaking wave

pitch - the act of the lip throwing out in front of the wave

pitted - being in the pit of the wave

pearl - to go pearl diving, the nose of you board submerges and usually the wave pushes the rest of the board over the nose

period - time between waves.  Wind swell period runs less than about 10 seconds.  Ground swell period runs 12 seconds or longer.  The energy/power of a wave is proportional not only to its height but its period.

pin tail - pointed tail, aids in stability of board

point breaks - wave forms in reaction to the land form, usually consistent

pop the fins - considered a new school maneuver it's when the fins of your board move out of the wave when doing a move such as a 'snap' or 'reo'

poser – one who buys surfing oriented clothing and accessories, uses surfing expressions, but cannot surf and does not own a surfboard

potato chip - short board that is thinner than the average board with a thickness of usually 2" or less

pucker factor - the effect an intimidating wave has on ones ability to remain relaxed

puff - a spitting wave.

pumping - above average large swell

quad - four fin board, two normal size fins with two smaller fins in line behind them

quiver - a surfer's collection of boards

rash guard - shirt to protect from wax rash and/or sun.

rail - side edge of a board

down rail - deck curves down to meet the flat bottom at a hard edge

reef breaks - wave is formed over an underwater reef or rock, usually consistent

rhino - a gun - a board for big waves they are long, narrow, and pointy both at the nose and the tail for maximum rail contact. Usually thick and heavy and ranging in length from 7'to 10'

rip - to surf at and beyond one's abilities

river mouth breaks - wave forms on the sediments deposited at the river mouth, similar to beach breaks but more susceptible to change

remora - anything that hinders or impedes

reo - short for 're-entry' a vertical move done just before the wave breaks

reverse "V" - hard chine protruding ridge running lengthways on the bottom of a board

rocker - the arc of the tail that bends up, more rocker will mean easier turning & less speed

round house - short for round house cutback whereby one turns back towards the whitewash hitting it, it is a combination of a 'cutty' and then a 'reo' off the whitewash

section - any appreciable length of wave that has common characteristics and timing  ie: breaking in sections

snap - similar to a combination between a reo' and a 'cutty' done with speed

scab - a reef or rock

scabbed - getting dinged by a reef or rock

shore dump/soup/slop - unorganized sloppy foam

short board - short boards are the most common, they range in length from 5' to 7'6", and tend to be used for high-performance contest-style surfing. Short boards usually have pointed noses and three fins, although other configurations are common. A short board can sacrifice paddling and floatation for the sake of performance.

shred - ability to execute rapid repeated turns

sick - excellent, top notch - describing a surfer, stunt, maneuver or conditions, really good

sideslip - when your board stops tracking forwards and moves sideways

sine waves - in deep water swells are very well approximated by pure sine waves.

skim boards - glassed plywood disc or oval for riding shallow beaches on the waters' edge.... run - throw it down - hop on

slam - bounce off the lip as it begins to pitch

Skeg - large single fin on older boards.

Slammed - the ending of "over-the-falls", usually into the bottom, can cause dings

slash - cutback.

snake - paddling around behind someone who is in position and stealing their wave. Effectively the snake is taking ownership of the wave by being the closest rider to the breaking portion of the wave.

sneaker set - a surprise set of larger than normal waves that suddenly appears

soup - the rolling whitewater area just inshore from the impact zone.  Because of the air stirred up into the water, it's less stable than clean, green water in terms of tracking and control.  It's also less buoyant than green water.

spoon - the lengthwise upward curve of the forward half of a surfboard

Standing Island Pullout - to exit the wave while on the nose by turning back through it with pressure on the inside rail.

steep - refers to angle or pitch of wave face

stink-eye - hard, cold, menacing stare AKA evil-eye

stoked - full of enthusiasm

Stringer - lengthwise stiffener in a surfboard. Used to be balsa and other exotic woods.

stylin' - with good form - with grace

square tail - with the introduction of multi fins, it became a advantageous to loosen the board up with a clean profile tail design

squash tail - wide, rounded tail, introduced after the advent of advanced fin systems to loosen the board up

surfer's knots - large bumps on the tops of feet and on knees caused by callusing where one continuously contacts a board

stuffed - getting driven under the water by a wave coming down on you

swallow tail - double pointed tail with an indentation in the center. Functional on single fin boards to aid in the holding characteristics of the board.

tail flick- a quick snap on the lip or curl of the wave which throws the fins out

tail kick - an increase in the rate of rocker near the tail

thrashed - when a wave lays a beating on you

Throw spray - the bigger the better! end product of speed, maneuverability and skill, achieved by turning ones surfboard

throwing tail - sliding the tail in a turn, breaking the grip of the fins

thruster - three similar size fins

toe in - pushing the front of the fins in, for some boards they would put the toe in such that a string from the nose of the board to the fin was the alignment for the fins--toe-in. Toe-in causes pressure on the outside of the fins to be greater than on the inside, ie., making the board want to swivel to either side with a little surfer input, this eliminated tracking on the earlier twin fins, and makes for a looser more responsive board.

tow-ins - getting towed into waves that are too large to paddle into

trim - adjusting your position on a board so that it planes, and achieves its maximum speed

tri fin - three fin board, one large and two smaller fins

tube - the cylindrical or cone shaped hole created when the lip pitches out far and clean enough to create a space between the wave and the falls, see barrel

turtle, turning turtle - another method of dealing with getting through breaking waves.  Just before the breaking wave hits, you roll upside down so you're under the board.  Hanging on to the rails about a quarter back from the nose, you force your body straight down.  This (hopefully) will allow the wave to roll over you and your board without taking the board away from you, and without losing too much distance back towards the beach.  Once the wave has passed, you have to roll back upright and begin paddling very hard or else you will have to turtle again, and again, and again.

twin - two fin board

vertical - turn straight up the wave

waffling - rapidly working the board back and forth

wax - used on deck of boards for traction

wind swells - waves formed close to the shore by local wind conditions, unorganized, tendency to be slop

wipe out - a fall, particularly a spectacular fall

Woody - wood paneled '50s station wagon favored by some surfers

worked, getting - the action a wave plays on you. It feels like being in a large washing machine

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