10 Surf Terms You ABSOLUTELY Need To Know
February 24, 2020
2 Comments
Surfing is a hard thing to pick up—and the very cliquey surf community makes it doubly so. Here are a few terms you’ll stumble across when you hit the lineup or walk into your surf shop of choice.
yard sale (yahrd-seyl):
To fall limbs flailing, in the most undignified manner possible.
use: “Hey is that guy leaving already? The waves are just starting to go off!” “Yeah, if you’d just thrown half a dozen yard sales in a row like he did, you’d probably be on your way out, too.”
shred (shred):
To surf a wave in a flashy, flamboyant, and skillful manner.
(syn: rip, killin it) use: “Whoa did you see that 360 air? That old dude is legit shredding, brah.”
rails (reyls):
The left and right edges of your
surfboard.The bevel on your rails help determine how your board will turn, with “harder” rails granting you tighter snappy turns.
use:
“Wax your board, nose to tail and rail to rail.”
potato chip (puh•tey•toh chip):
A thin (read: comically small) performance shortboard.
use: “The waves are tiny, mate. Leave the potato chip at home, today.”
grom (grom):
A
young surfer typically under 15 years old. Shortened form of grommet. Typically reserved for particularly skillfull or irritating young surfers.
use: “
The traditional tousling of the hair and baby talk are considered mandatory as part of the grom greeting ritual.”
stick (stik):
Your board. Also used by skaters and snowboarders
(syn: shred stick) use: “There’s a sweet swell coming in. I can’t wait to take out my stick tomorrow and gnar up some waves”
kook (kook):
A non surfer. Esp. one who’s posing as a surfer, hitting the lineup, and carrying his mint condition Al Merrick around the beach instead of surfing it. Heavily derogatory.
use: don’t.
hollow (hol•oh):
Well-formed tubing/barreling waves. Y’see they’re hollow inside so they…yeah.
(ant: mushy) use: “I wish we’d get some hollow surf around here so I could freakin use my shortboard.”
snake (sneyk):
To catch someone else’s wave. Heavily frowned upon.
use:
“If he snakes my wave one more time, Imma send him a VERY strongly worded fax...”
the line (thuh•lahyn):
Describes the most ideally surfable portion of the wave. The goal for every surfer is to ride the line for as long as possible.
use: “Watch the way he plays with the line, you can tell that guy is a total pro.”
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Rob
May 07, 2014
Hey thanks for the feedback, man! If you’ve got any other ideas for articles you wanna see, let us know!