Surfers Dictionary
Part of the My Guide Network Since 2006 180+ destinations
Lingo
Air/Aerial|is the result of a very skilled manoeuvre where one is actually in the air after being on the top of the wave.**
A frame|big wave with different shoulders on each side of the peak, looks like the letter A.**
Aggro|short for an aggressive surfer.**
Amped|a person that is very enthusiastic about surfing.**
Ankle slop|waves that are too small for surfing.**
ASP|Association of Surfing Professionals.**
Backhand/backside|refers to the surfer’s position related to the wave, you have your back at the wave and you are looking at the shore.**
Bail/bail out|to give up a surfboard while in the water because of the high waves or not managing to ride the wave.**
Barrel/tube/shack-tar|part of a breaking wave where one cannot be seen from the shore.**
Beach break|terms that defines the type of waves; these waves are found on sand bottom beaches.**
Body surfing|type of surfing where one uses his or her body for surfing.**
Board/Surf board|the board one uses to surf.**
Caught in a fish net|not a good day for a surfer who cannot stay on the board and /or ride a wave.**
Choppy|term that describes the waves and the sea because of windy conditions.**
Close out|term used to describe waves that cannot be ridden across.**
Cooking|describes the best surfing conditions in terms of weather and waves.**
Crew|several surfers who hang out in the same area.**
Deck|the name of the part of the board to stand on.**
Ding/Dent|when the surfboard is not perfect anymore the dimple, trace or fissure is called a ding.**
Drop in|breaking the surf rules by catching a wave in a spot where there is already another surfer.**
Duck dive/duck diving|a way of passing through a breaking wave while paddling.**
Eat it|to lose a board because of a wave.**
Epic|term used to describe a wonderful surf day.**
Eskimo roll/ turtle roll|a way of passing through breaking waves while still being away from the shore.**
Endless summer|a must see movie for all surf enthusiasts.**
Face|onward facing section of a wave, the section of the wave that did not break.**
Fin|part of the board that helps one from gliding to one side; most of the board have three fins, but some have two, four or even five fins.**
Flat/flat spell|water with no waves whatsoever.**
Forehand/frontside|positioned with the face toward the wave.**
Funboard|type of surfboard with length size in between the shortboard and the longboard.**
Glass house/green room|the interior of a tube.**
Goofy foot/goofy|describing a person that uses the right foot first instead of the left foot.**
Gun|type of board that is long and thin and it was especially designed for big waves.**
Hang five/hang ten|method of hanging on the board by using your toes.**
Hold down|the period of time a surfer is kept down by a wave.**
Iced|the ideal execution of a wave.**
Impact zone|the spot in which the waves split.**
ISA|short for the International Surfing Association.**
Kneeboarding|type of surfing where you do not stand up on the board.**
Leash|string that attaches to the board to prevent one from losing the board if thrown off it.**
Lip|the section of the wave at the top.**
Localism|when local surfers are unfriendly with visiting surfers.**
Longboard/Mat|type of board used for surfing on certain beaches, type of surfing.**
Men in grey suits|synonym for sharks in the surf culture**
Mush/mushy|small waves that are not good for surfing.**
Nose|the tip of the surf board.**
Nose guard|rubber put at the front of the board to minimize injuries of others.**
Nose ride|term used to describe when the surfer rides on the nose of the board.**
Offshore|refers to the direction of the wind, the wind blows out to sea.**
Onshore|refers to the direction of the wind, the wind blows out from the sea, thus the conditions for surfing are not good.**
Over the falls|surfer that drops from the crest of the wave to the base of it in one movement.**
Peak|the part of the wave that gives a surfer the choice of going either side from take off.**
Pin tail|type of surf board that has a rounded back.**
Pull in|method of rotating the surf board to make it go into the tube.**
Quad|type of surf board with four fins.**
Quiver|name given to a collection of surf boards.**
Quicksilver|famous brand for surf gear.**
Rail|part of a surf board, it is the side of the board and it can come in two types of rails: soft or hard.**
By My Guide Sunshine Coast
