Yeah you got the board, you got the hair, you've got the VW camper, but do you talk the talk?

Surfing has the most colourful vocabulary of any sport or cultural activity. While the basic words generally remain the same, subtler terms change all the time. Here are some of the most common terms used to describe the action.

Please e-mail me here with any more additions.

Aerial:
Re-entry in which the entire board extends above the lip.

Aloha!:
Aloha! Hello mate! Allright! They all meen the same. A general all-purpose cheery greeting to be extended towards our fellow surfers and spongers.

Ate it:
Bit the dust.

Backdoor:
Going backside, or back facing the wave.

Backhand Surfing:
Riding with one's back to the wave. (See also goofy foot ).

Bail:
That last vain attempt to escape death at the hands of a wave. It all too often leads to a nastier beating.

Basil:
A very HOT bodyboarder.

Barrel:
A tube that is generally wide open.

Barrel Roll:
A bodyboard roll performed deeper inside the tube of the wave.

Beach Break:
Waves breaking close to a beach on a sand bank.

Beef:
Your board.

Blasted:
To wipe out. Normally getting blasted is the product of riding too deep in a tube or getting blown off you board by the spray coming out of a tube.

Bodyboarder:
Booger, esky lidder, sponger, speed hump, shark biscuit, tea bag, wettex etc.

Bog Down:
Unable to accelerate because of equipment design, lack of skill or poor wave quality.

Booger:
Originally from Boogie Board. Yet another word to describe bodyboarders.

Bottom Turn:
The turn made at the bottom of a wave to initiate the ride. Bottom turns will most often be sweeping powerful moves that enable the surfer to establish the direction for the ride.

Bowl:
Wave shape that is based by a section of reef that causes a close out (see close out). Some bowls are makeable in that they do not entirely close out the wave, but the provide a section of wave that must be traversed quickly to avoid getting drilled.

Bullwinkled:
To get completely messed up by a wave. (See also Wipe Out).

Bus Driver:
Bodyboarding prone with your inside elbow dragging in the water, or both arms stuck out excessively.

Bra(h):
A good bud or a surf partner.

Canned:
When you're caught in a Close-out or Close Window Tube.

Close-out:
A wave that breaks at once for it's entire length or for a sizeable section. (See also bowl).

Claw:
Bodyboarding prone with your front hand raised in a claw like manner. This style is popular among some of the pros (e.g. Mike Stewart and Tully Beevor).

Confused:
Confused waves are small to medium in size, choppy, sloppy, with a crappy onshore blowing. Make for dud surfing.

Critical Section:
A section of wave that is very difficult to ride and usually deep within the curl or very steep section.

Curl:
Hollow wave face under the lip of a breaking wave.

Cutback:
A carving or snapping motion that changes the surfboard's direction toward the part of the wave from which the surfer has come. They are a vital element in every surfer's performance as they reposition the surfer into the nucleus of the wave.

Da' Bomb:
Awesome boarder.

Double Up:
Two waves that join. This is caused by waves being very close and the first wave being sucked back into the second wave.

Down the line:
What the surfer sees as he looks down the side of a wave after completing the bottom turn. Down the line surfing is fast and exciting.

Drilled:
To wipe out. Normally this involves hitting the bottom, looking like you are going to hit the bottom or being toss over rocks.

Drop in:
When the surfer catches the wave and descends to the bottom. If you drop in on a surfer already on the wave, in a contest you'll get an interference penalty, and the result from your victim could be anything from forgiveness to a broken nose/ slashed tyres/ busted board if the locals are an aggressive bunch. NEVER, EVER DROP IN.

Drop Knee:
Kneeling on a bodyboard with one knee at the back and one foot up at the front. Alternative to prone.

Duck Dive:
Pushing down the nose of the board in order to execute a complete dive under a wave.

El Rollo
Sponger move: Rolling 360 degrees with the lip of the wave.

Epic:
Really good or large waves / trick / night on piss.

Esky Lid:
Bodyboard.

Fetch:
The distance over which wind blows to create the swell. Waves may travel a great distance out of this wind before reaching the coast as a ground swell.

Fik Air:
Sick little air.

Fin:
The fiberglass skeg underneath at the back of the board, gives directional stability, boards generally have three.

Flex:
The amount a bodyboard can bend while still being able to return to its original shape.

Floater:
A manoeuvre performed on top of the white water section of a wave. Normally these are done by building a large amount of straight line speed, coming off the top of the lip, and riding on top of the broken white water for a period of time.

Flop:
An El Rollo without projection or off foam sections where you force your board round without the power of the waves.

Forehand Surfing:
Riding while facing the wave.

Getting Killed:
What happens if you drop in on someone.

Glassy:
Smooth calm water surface with no onshore or sideshore winds.

Gnarly:
"Whoa man, it was gnarly out there!" Colourful adjective for big curling powerful waves, as used to describe an epic barrell/wipeout later in the pub.

Gremos:
Someone who has no clue what they're doing.

Goat Boat:
A boat for goats. Otherwise known as a surf ski.

God:
See Mike Stewart, Duke Kahanamoku, Mark Richards etc.

Goofy Foot:
Surfing with one's right foot forward. (See also backhand surfing).

Grommet:
Adolescent or pre-adolescent surfer.

Grovel:
Make the most of small, mushy waves.

Ground Swell:
Surf that is formed at a great distance from the coast (see also fetch). Ground swells are typically characterised by long, straight, parallel lines of waves.

Grovel
To maintain speed on a broken wave in an attempt to find an area which has a face on it.

Hassle:
Compete to get the inside position on waves.

Inside:
1. On the wave side of any object. 2. On the shore side of the wave breaking area / impact zone. 3. Under the lip of the wave (or further into back) when riding in a tube. Opposite to outside.

Inside Rail:
Rail nearest to the face of the wave.

Jabba:
Hotted up car with a letterbox on the bonnet with big flares and huge shiney mags with an exhaust pipe that you could stick a grape friut down, with techno coming out of the huge stereo with poo pushers driving around doing laps of the town, you see the same car 10 times in an hour and you've been sitting in the same spot for an hour.

Jack Stand:
Another term for drop knee.

Jacked Up:
1. See stoked. 2. Very nice; fully equiped.

J-Walker:
Dumb longboarder who paddles infront of you to get to an approaching peak and goes for it, robbing you of YOUR peak.

Killa Warra:
An expression of intense happiness.

Kook:
Generally an inexperienced surfer/bodyboarder with no style or surfing etiquette.

Leash:
Something that keeps you tied to your board. Can be attached to your wrist, ankle or bicep.

Lip:
The crest of a wave -- that pitches and falls out in front of the wave or spills forward down the face.

Looseness:
Manoeuvrability of the board.

Lube:
Wax.

Lull:
A period of time where waves are at their least intense. Occurs between sets.

Mahoo:
Dickheads who drop in and cut people off waves.

Mamaso:
A way of saying no waves.

Memory:
The ability of a bodyboard to return to its original shape after being bent.

Mike Stewart:
See God.

Mushy:
Poor quality small surf usually caused by onshore winds.

Nailed:
Wiping out. Getting nailed normally involves some sort of impact, such as the lip falling on your head, your head hitting the bottom or someone else hitting you.

Offshore:
Winds that blow toward the ocean creating preferred conditions. Offshore wind often holds up the waves and smoothes or "glasses off" the water surface.

Off the Lip:
Any move pulled by hitting the breaking crest of a wave. Also called "off the tops" and "snaps".

Onshore:
Winds that blow towards the shore effecting the backs of breaking waves. Usually do not offer good surfing conditions.

Outside:
1. On the side furthest away from the wave face, from any object on the wave face. 2. On the ocean side of the impact zone / breaking area.

Outside Rail:
Rail away from the wave.

Over-the-falls:
A wipe out occasioned by taking off too late and ending up on top of the breaking wave, which appears something like going over a waterfall.

Peak:
The central point on the wave that pitches forward and breaks in both directions. Most rides start from the peak.

Pearl:
Nose of the board catches in the water, comes from "On that last wave I went diving for Pearls!".

Phat Wave:
Nice wave.

Poke Tako:
A particularly nasty wipe out usually involving hitting the bottom. Comes from the Japanese word "tako" meaning octopus.

Pounded:
Pounded: Wiping out and getting destroyed by a wave or having the lip crash down on you.

Projection:
The amount of speed a board will give you out of a turn.

Prone:
Lying down on a bodyboard.

Pushup:
Riding prone with you outside hand lying flat on the board.

Radical:
Adjective applied to extreme manouvres performed by the surfer.

Rail:
The outside edges of a board.

Reef:
A raised section of the sea floor that may case a wave to break. These can be made from any immovable substance (coral, rock, concrete)... as opposed to movable substances. (See also sand bar).

Re-entry:
A complete direction change. After the surfer has ridden to the wave's breaking point, he then turns the board back into the wave and continues his ride. Very similar to "off-the-lips" but more avertical ascent up the face of the wave.

Reform:
Waves become green again and form up after having already broken. This is normally the result of having an inner and outer sand bar at a beach.

Resin Monkey:
Derogatory name towards stand-up surfers. Derived from the fact that they ride boards of resin and they're all a buncha monkeys.

Rip:
1) To surf with great movement, style and speed. 2) A current of water running away from or parallel to, the beach. This currents are where water from the breaking waves returns to the sea. (See also sweep).

Ripple Rider:
Need I say anything more.

Rocker:
The bottom curve of a board along its length. Heaps of rocker is a board that is shaped like a banana, no rocker is literally -- flat as a board!

Rocks:
Either your biggest blessing, or worst nightmare... depending on how crazy you are!

Roundhouse Cutback:
A turn back towards the breaking part of a wave that has a large radius.

Sand Bar:
Otherwise known as sand bank, bank or bar. A submerged mound of sand, caused by motion of water both laterally and returning to the sea. This can cause the wave to suck-up.

Section
When the wave breaks into two or more segments separated by white water. Surfers will either manouvre through the sections, perform floaters, or conclude their rides.

Set:
A group of waves(usually two or three) that is appreciably larger than most.

Set an Edge:
Dig the rail into the edge of a wave face.

Shark Biscuit:
Another endearing term for spongers.

Shark Fucker:
Spongers' term for their stand-up pals.

the Shit:
Awesome.

Shoulder:
Part of a wave to the side of the broken section that is steep enough to surf on.

Shore Break / Shorey:
The inner break where the wave formations break "out the back" and in on the beach. The second break tends to be in shallower water, and often provides neat little barrels to slip into.

Shovel:
A bodyboard 360 using your hand.

Snake:
Paddling around another surfer to obtain the inside position on a wave.

Speed bump:
What surfers seem to mistake bodyboarders for.

Spiked:
Getting nailed by a surfboard, specifically by the nose of a shortboard.

Spinner:
A three hundred and sixty degree rotation round the centre of the board.

Sponge:
To bodyboard.

Sponger:
A bodyboarder.

Spit:
The light spray shot out the end of a powerful tubing wave.

Steriliser:
When your jewels happen to mistakenly land on the corner of your board and you become sterile for life.

Stevie Wonder:
Doing a gnarly manoeuvre with your eyes closed.

Stick Rider:
A stand-up surfer.

Stoked:
Happy. Elated. How you should be feeling after a ten second barrel and an A.R.S. - Barrel Roll combination.

Suck-up:
A wave shape caused by a shallow object (relative to the wave height). This cases a lack of water flow and a non smooth spot on a wave. This can be caused by sand bars rocks or any submerged object.

Surfing:
Action of riding a wave.

Sweep:
A current of water running parallel to the beach. (See also rip).

Swell
Long unbroken waves caused by an ocean disturbance, such as a major storm or hurricane, thousands of miles from the location of the event. Swells come from all ocean bound directions, depending on the season. Typically, storm activity is greater in the Southern Hemisphere from May to September and in the Northern Hemisphere from October to March.

Take-Off:
When a surfer paddles for a wave, graps the rails and stands up and is taken along by the wave.

Tea-bag:
South Oz bodyboarders have to put up with this from their stand-up cousins.

Trough:
Bottom of the wave where the lip meets the wave face.

Tube:
The hollow circular hole between the throwing lip and the face of the wave. (See also barrel ).

Tube Ride:
When the surfer rides inside the pocket of the wave. From the shore, the surfer is completely obscured, only to emerge from the barrell of cascading water. From the surfer's perspective, it is like being covered by a tunnel of water with the light of day present at the other end. A very high scoring manouvre.

Turon:
A tourist that has no clue (as if any do).

Vibrator:
Kook who tries to get his jollies by thrusting his board from one rail to the other while attempting to trim.

Warped:
What happens when your best bodyboard spends a day in the sun.

Wettex:
Another term for a bodyboarder.

Whitewash:
Pretty self explanatory I hope, see whitewater below.

Whitewater:
The already broken part of the wave that churns and foams.

Wipe Out:
To fall off your board while riding on a wave. (See also drilled, nailed and blasted).

Worked:
Beaten up by a wave. (See also drilled and nailed).

Whew! Right, that's the lot, e-mail me with yours.