Surfer Lingo: The Ultimate Surfing Glossary
Surfs up! It sounds like English, but what exactly does one mean by this? If you’re still reeling from your recent conversation with a group of surfers or just looking to learn more of what your friends are saying, then this surfer dictionary is definitely for you. We give you a comprehensive list of surfing terms that will get you talking like a local in no time.
Table of Contents
A
Aerial – a surfing manoeuvre where a surfer intentionally hits the crest of the wave and makes ‘big’ air
A-frame - a perfectly shaped wave peak
Aggro - an Australian surfing term for aggressive surfers
Akaw! an old expression of shock or surprise
Amped – extreme excitement
Ankle busters – small waves that difficult to ride
Ankle Biters – extremely small waves
Ankle Peelers – small surf that is barely rideable
B
Backdoor – moving into a hollow section from behind
Backside – surfing with your back to the wave
Backwash – waves returning from the beach to ocean often colliding with incoming waves
Baggies –knee length board shorts with a loose fit
Bail – a surfing manoeuvre used to avoid a possible wipe out
Barney – rookies or surfers with poor skills
Barrel - the curl or tube formed by the wave
Beach bum – person who usually spends lots of time on the beach
Beach Bunny – females who hang out in the beach watching surfers
Beach Leech – term used to describe surfers who don’t bring their own surfing equipment and simply borrows from others
Benny – someone who is not from the area
Betty – Old surfing term for attractive female surfers
Billabong – Australian slang term for a watering hole
Bitchin’ – when used positively it used to describe something amazing or beyond normal
Boardies – a general term for shorts used for surfing
Blown Out – strong winds that prevent waves from forming
Bodysurf - riding waves without the use of a floatation device or surfboard
Bogging – when a surf board’s nose lifts up after a surfer shifts his weight towards the end of the board
Bomb – extremely big wave
Booger – bodyboarders, prone riding surfers
Boost – sudden jump to the air after taking off from the lip of a wave
Bottom turn – turning after reaching the bottom of a wave and returning to the optimal surfing line
Burn – hijacking a wave from another surfer
C
Carve – turning sharply on the wave face
Caught inside – finding yourself between the breaking waves and the shoreline
Chandelier – water descending from the barrel opening which could cause a wipeout
Charging – aggressive movement towards a specific wave
Cheater Five – five toes on the nose of the board
Chop – rough waves caused by strong winds and/or currents
Clam Dragger - refers to a female bodyboarder
Clean – ideal wave face type
Clidro – term to describe a surfer turning up and down the face of the wave a surfer
Closeout – wave that suddenly breaks with no shape or shoulder
Clucked – a person who refuses to surf because he is scared of the waves
Cranking – near perfect waves
Crease – surfboard damage caused by an impact
Crest – a wave’s highest point
Cross Step – walking/running up and down a longboard
Curl – part of the wave where it is breaking
Curtain – the walls of the barrel
Cutback – turns made on the flat or shoulder of the wave in an attempt to get back on the surf line
Cut Out – disengaging from a wave
D
Dawn patrol – surfing during the early morning
Deck – area on top of the surfboard
Dirty licking – taking an ugly wipeout
Doggy door – the exact time when a surfer about to exit the wave’s barrel before it closes
Double overhead – a wave twice the height of the surfer
Double up – a large wave followed by a smaller wave caused by two waves combining
Drop – the moment just after the surfer gathers himself after paddling and catches the first turn of the wave
Drop knee – surfing with one knee on the surfboard’s deck
Duck diving – pushing the surfboard down to get it under and through a breaking wave
Dumping – difficult to impossible surf conditions caused by onshore conditions
E
Eat it – wipe out
El Rollo – riding the inside wall of the barrel and coming out sideways
Epic – superlative, something beyond normal
Eskimo roll – surfing manoeuvre that enables a surfer to safely navigate a large or broken wave
F
Face – part of the wave where surfers usually ride
Fade – moving into the most powerful part of the wave
Fakie – riding tail first or backwards on a wave
Far out! – superlative, something beyond normal
Firing – feeling of joy when surfing
Flat – calm waters, absence of waves
Flats - shoulder of a wave or the horizontal part of a wave that is breaking
Floater – a surfer going on top of a crumbling section of the wave and ending up in the flats
Foam – whitewater
Foamies – waves formed by foam
Forehand/frontside – surfing facing the wave and your back to the beach
Froth – excited
Frube – a surfer who fails to catch a wave during his time in the water
G
Gidget – a slang term for ‘girl midget’ or small female riders
Goober – belittling term for long boarders or longboards.
Going off - great surf
Goofy foot- riding waves with your right leg forward
Green room – insides of a barrel
Grey belly – old surfer with a big belly
Grom – young surfer
Grubbing – falling off the surfboard
H
Hang eleven – a male surfing while naked
Hang five – surfing position where a surfer has one foot on the nose of the surfboard
Hang loose – Hawaiian expression for an easygoing attitude
Hang ten – placing all ten toes on the nose of the board while surfing
Haole - a Hawaiian surfing term for someone not local
Header – falling off a surfboard
Helicopter – surfing manoeuvre where a surfer spins the board from around its nose
Hit the lip – going for the falling lip of the wave
Hollow – barrels, tubes
I
Impact zone – point where waves break the hardest
Inside – area between the impact zone and the shore
Into the soup – inside the white water or foam
J
Jacking – waves swelling rapidly
Jake – refers to a surfer who unintentionally disrupts skilled surfers
Juice – the wave’s strength
Junkyard dog – surfer who lacks flair
K
Kahuna - magician
Keg –a tube or barrel
Kick out – exiting the end of a wave
Kickflip –360-degree surfboard rotation in the air
Kook – surfer with a low skill level, beginner, or poor technique
L
Left – wave breaking on the surfer’s left side
Lines – multiple swells approaching the shore
Line-up – spot at the back where surfers wait and catch waves
Localism – local surfers overly protecting their surfing grounds
Locked in – a term to describe a surfer who finds himself trapped inside a crashing wave
Lull – a break between sets of waves
M
Mack - big
Making the drop – riding a wave on the lower part of its shoulder
Men in grey suits – slang term for sharks
Messy – irregular waves
Mullering – same as wipe out
Mush/Mushburger – weak, non-surfable waves
N
Nailed – falling of a wave
Namer – surfer who shares his favourite surfing spots
New school – trick surfing
Noah – shark
Noodle arms – surfers with physically weak or tired arms
Nose – forward tip/area of the surfboard
Nose riding – surfing on the surfboard’s nose, commonly done in longboards
Nug – good wave
O
Off the lip – entering the lip of the wave
Out the back – moving into the line-up area by paddling through breaking waves
Outside – line-up area
Over the falls – moving from the lip into the wave’s face
Over gunned – finding yourself with the wrong surfboard for the surfing conditions
Overhead –waves that are higher than the average surfer
P
Paddle battle – Surfers battling for position to get first into a curl in an effort to get the right of way
Party wave – surfers riding a single wave
Peak – area in the ocean where the waves breaks left and right
Pearling – when a surfboard nose dives underwater caused by a surfer shifting his weight forward
Peeling – waves that break perfectly
Pigdog – describes a surfer who is grabbing the rails while inside a barrel
Pit – hollowest part of the tube
Pocket – most ideal position when riding a barrel or powerful wave
Pop-up – suddenly switching to a standing position when taking off on a wave
Pull in – moving the surfboard to enter a barrel
Pumping – near perfect surf conditions
Q
Quimby – an annoying, low skilled surfer
Quiver – refers to a surfer’s collection of surfboards
R
Racy – a good, quick wave
Radical – high-level surfing
Raked over – Swamped by powerful waves when paddling to catch a wave
Rail bang – get hit by the surfboard between the legs
Reef break - wave breaking over rocks or coral
Regular foot – riding waves with your left leg forward
Right of way – the practice of giving the surfer closest to the breaking part of the wave priority to enter
Rip – surf exceptionally well
Rip current/rip tide – a strong, sudden current that pulls you seaward
Rogue wave – an irregular, big, open ocean wave
S
Section – area in the water where surfers are waiting to catch a ride
Set – series of waves
Shaka - a Hawaiian hand gesture for "hello," and "alright"
Shoaling – waves suddenly increasing in height after entering shallower waters
Skeg - old surfing term for surfboard fin
Snaking – aggressive paddling to get the right of way on a wave
Stall – a deliberate attempt to slow down the surfboard to allow the tube to catch up with the surfer
Stance - your feet position while standing on a surfboard
Stoked – strong sense of excitement
Swell – increasing wave size produced by strong distant storms
T
Take-off - start of the ride
Tow-in – catching waves with the help of a watercraft
Trimming – positioning yourself for the perfect surf line
Tube – also referred to as the barrel, it is the wave’s interior
Turtle roll – flipping the board over to get under an incoming wave
W
Wahine – female surfer
Wall – area/face of the wave impossible to ride on
Wave hog – a surfer who keeps the wave all to himself
Wave train – similarly sized, shaped waves
Wedge - a steep wave caused by side wash from a rock face or breakwater
Windswell – waves generated by local winds
Wipeout – falling of a wave unexpectedly
