Beginners Level

If you’ve ever had the good fortune to hear surfers talking about their sport you will have

noticed that the surfing fraternity have a language of their own. Like other languages, the

surfing dialect is unique. Everyday words like barrel, lip, blank and air take on a whole new

meaning when used in the context of the surfing world.

Names for parts of the face and body can confuse a listener not educated in surf talk. For

instance the following sentence would sound ridiculous:

“Did you see that dude stand on the nose when he carved the face and hit the lip and then

got into a barrel? It closed out and he really ate it. Snapped his leggy and was hit by his fin

when he tried to bail and landed in the soup”

To those not conversant in the surfing language this would translate to mean.

“Did you see something/someone stand on their nose, cut their face and hit their lip? He

climbed into a barrel of soup and ate it, really! The lid closed, his leg broke and he was hit

by the fin of something while he tried to bail some of the soup out of the barrel.”

Word Translations

Dude – in this sentence means surfer, but can take on other meanings depending on the

sentence it is used in.

Nose – the front tip of the surfboard

Face – the face of the wave is also sometimes referred to as the wall. It is the unbroken

section of wave; a smooth face, an open face.

Carve – carving is turning on a wave and is a standard move for surfers

Lip – the lip is the tip of the breaking part of a wave. It is a bit like the term in English “He

curled his lip.”

Barrel – This isn’t like a vat for fermenting wine. In the surf a barrel occurs when a wave

forms a hollow inside the water. For this reason it’s also sometimes referred to as a tube. A

good surfer can enter the barrel and ride the inside of the wave before coming out the end

without falling off.

Soup – No you don’t eat it. In the surf soup refers to water with no real wave forms. The

water can however still be rough.

Eating it – Also referred to as wiping out. It basically means crashing off the wave into the

ocean and the wave breaking on top of you, usually forcing you under water.

Close out – This is when the entire wave breaks at the same time. -

Leggy – Leggy is not a tall blonde with long legs. It is short for the word leg-rope, and is also

known as a leash. It works in much the same way as a dog leash and attaches the surfer

around the ankle to the board. A leggy is essential if you want to avoid a long swim when you

fall of your board.

Fin – this is found on the underside of the surfboard and is shaped much like a dolphin fin.

Some surfers prefer two fins (twin fins) or three fins.

Bail Out – Bailing out is when a surfer jumps off the board to avoid “eating it” or falling off

and crashing down the wave.

Now to translate the sentence we started with using the definitions for the surfing language.

'Did you see that surfer stand at the front of his board when he turned on the wave and

came to the top section of the wave where it was starting to break! He rode into the section

of the wave that formed like a tube but then the whole of the wave broke at the same time.

He crashed off his board into the ocean where the wave broke on top of him and held him

under water. He tried to jump off his board before he crashed but his the rough water.'

One more hint before you try to converse with a surfer in their own language. Don’t mistake

everything containing the word “board” as referring to part of the board or the board itself.

Board shorts are not a pair of shorts for dressing your surf board in. These are shorts made for

the surfer to wear in the water when surfing. The same for a board sock. This is cover for

your board made of similar material as cotton socks and fits over the length of a board much

like a sock fits over a foot and leg. A board bag is not an old female surfer. It is a bag made

specifically for carrying or storing a surf board.

Final hint for beginners; unless you know how to use surfing words correctly, don’t use them

at all. You’ll just look like a “kook”.