Firing

When the waves are good and pumping, the surf is said to be “firing” (also see “going off”).
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Deck Patch

An additional layer of fiberglass used to reinforce sections where the surfer stands on the board to help protect from pressure dings.
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Gnar-gnar

Pronounced "nahr-nahr". A playful abbreviation for “gnarly”.
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Peel

The description of a well shaped wave breaking, where it doesn't break ahead, it just breaks at the peak and then peels on down the line.
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Pumped

Excited, exhilarated.
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Hodad

Pronounced "hoh'-dad". Another name for a newbie surfer, gremmie, grommet.
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Pummeled

Getting hammered or drilled by a wave
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Toes-on-the-Nose

A longboard maneuver – with one's toes wrapped around the nose of the board.
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Off The Lip

A maneuver where the surfer drives up the face of the wave and snaps back right at the top (the lip).
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Goob

Short for “goober”, a derogatory term similar to dweeb, nerd, goof, kook, goon.
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Munched

Getting crushed by a breaking a wave. Similar to drilled or hammered.
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Hang Ten

Walking up to the nose on a board and hanging all ten toes over the nose of the board – a longboard maneuver.
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El Rollo

Pronounced "el- roh'-loh". When a surfer catches the nose of the board in the wave and continues falling end-over-end
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Scarf

To energetically eat in order to calm a huge hunger attack.
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Flail

Pronounced "flayl". To flail is to make erratic clumsy movements. Often seen when someone gets munched by a wave, they'll be “flailing” around trying to get back to their board and to the surface for air.
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Inside Break

Refers to an area where waves are breaking between the shoreline and main break further out.
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Hollow

When referencing a wave or waves, refers to the hollow area formed when the lip of the wave breaks out in front of the face, rather than straight down, creating a large hollow area.
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Hammered

When someone gets hit by the lip of a breaking wave, same as "drilled"
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Feathering

Describes the edge of the lip of a wave just as it's breaking – the thin edge with tiny little fingers and spray, which has the look of the edge of a feather.
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Turtle Roll

A maneuver used in paddling out, primarily for longboards, when going through a breaking wave. The surfer rolls the board over so the breaking wave hits the bottom of the surfboard. The slight curvature of the board also helps the board penetrate deeper under the wave, and helps the board go through the wave, rather than being pushed back to shore.
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One Handed Air Grab

When a surfer launches off the lip of a wave and grabs the board's rail with one hand, and then comes back down onto the wave.
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Flying Kickout

When a surfer exits the wave by flying up the face of the wave with the board and launches high into the air.
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Kick Out

Exiting the wave by going back over the lip and letting the wave continue on.
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Late Takeoff

Catching a wave as the lip is already breaking, but where the wave itself hasn't fully broken. Makes for a very bouncy condition to try and stand up on your board.
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Cleanup Set

A set of waves that break out beyond the lineup, usually catching everyone by surprise and "cleaning up" the lineup by washing everyone to the inside.
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Shifting Peak

When the place in the line where the waves are breaking, changes with each wave – due to irregularities and changing bottom surface.
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Crest

The area on a wave just as it begins to break, where the lip begins to feather and then eventually falls over onto the face of the wave, thus breaking.
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Tandem

A surfboard maneuver where two people ride the same board at the same time. This was more popular in the earlier days of surfing where longboards ruled, but is still pursued by some folks today.
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Thick or Thick Lip

Describes the “thickness” of the wave as it breaks. A thin lip would be easy to paddle through and may even be transparent, whereas a thick lip will pound you as you try to paddle through it.
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Snap

A quick sharp change of direction, such as snapping off-the-lip or snapping the board around 180 degrees in an opposite direction.
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Pitch

Describes the amount of distance between the face of the wave and the lip as it is breaking on the wave. A wave really pitches out when the lip breaks far out from the face and doesn't touch the face of the wave until the very bottom – this is also called “breaking top to bottom”.
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