10 Surf Terms You ABSOLUTELY Need To Know

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.”