Surf slang.

What surfers mean when they say it. Plain English, no gatekeeping, and a few Newquay ones at the end. Handy if you are new, visiting, or just trying to work out what the lot in the car park are on about.

The waves
Conditions
In the water
Manners
People
Kit
Newquay & Cornish

The waves

Set: A group of bigger waves that arrive together, with quieter spells in between. “Wait for the set.”
Lull: The quiet bit between sets. The time to paddle out.
Swell: Waves made by wind far out at sea, travelling to the coast. The thing every surf forecast is really about.
Period (seconds): The gap between one wave and the next. Longer is better: 12 seconds or more means powerful, organised waves; under 8 is usually weak and choppy. NQY NOW shows it on every beach.
Peak: The highest point of a wave, where it starts to break. Also the spot everyone sits at.
Left / right: Which way the wave peels, as the surfer riding it sees it. A right breaks to the surfer’s right, which is your left from the beach.
A-frame: A peak that breaks both left and right. Two surfers can go, one each way.
Closeout: A wave that breaks all at once along its length, so there is nowhere to ride. Common on big days at the beach breaks.
Shoulder: The unbroken, sloping part of the wave beside the breaking bit. Where you want to be.
Lip: The top edge of the wave as it throws forward.
Barrel (tube): The hollow tunnel a wave makes when the lip throws right over. Rare, prized, mostly for the experienced.
Dumpy: Waves that break hard and suddenly in shallow water. Tough on boards and backs.
Mushy: Soft, slow, crumbly waves without much push. Fine for learners and longboards.
Whitewater (soup): The foam after a wave has broken. Where everyone learns.
Green wave (unbroken): A wave you catch before it breaks. The step up from the whitewater.
Groundswell: Swell from a storm a long way off: long period, clean and powerful.
Windswell: Swell from wind close by: short period, messy and weaker.

Conditions

Offshore: Wind blowing from the land out to sea. Holds the waves up and makes them clean. What every surfer wants.
Onshore: Wind blowing from the sea onto the beach. Chops the waves up.
Cross-shore: Wind blowing along the beach. Usually a bit lumpy but surfable.
Glassy: No wind at all, so the sea looks like glass. Early mornings are often glassy.
Blown out: Too much onshore wind. Messy, no shape, not worth it.
Victory at sea: Properly wild, stormy, everything-everywhere conditions. Stay on the cliff and watch.
Clean: Smooth, well-shaped waves with tidy lines. The opposite of choppy.
Lined up: Swell arriving in long, even lines, one after another. A good sign.
Firing (pumping, going off): Really good. Big, clean and plenty of it.
Flat: No waves. Time for a pasty, or Feed the Surf Gods.
Knee high, waist high, head high, overhead: Wave size measured on a person. Easier to picture than metres.
Dawny (dawn patrol): Surfing first thing, before work and before the wind gets up.

In the water

Line-up: The place out back where surfers sit and wait for waves.
Out back: Beyond where the waves are breaking.
Inside: Closer to the beach than the line-up. “Caught inside” means a set is about to break on your head.
Duck dive: Pushing a short board under a wave to get past it. On a big board you do a turtle roll instead: flip over and hold on.
Pop up: Jumping from lying down to standing in one move.
Wipeout: Falling off. Everyone does.
Washing machine: Being rolled around under the water after a wipeout.
Rip (rip current): A strong current flowing out to sea. Surfers sometimes use them to paddle out; swimmers should stay well away.
Bottom turn: The first turn at the bottom of the wave, which sets up everything after it.
Cutback: A turn back towards the breaking part of the wave.
Hang ten: On a longboard, standing on the nose with all ten toes over the front.
Kick out: Steering up and over the back of the wave to finish a ride.

Manners

Priority: The surfer closest to the peak has the wave. Everyone else waits.
Drop in: Taking off on a wave someone else is already riding. The number one sin in surfing, and how people get hurt.
Snaking: Paddling round someone to steal priority.
Party wave: When several people share one wave on purpose. Fine when everyone is in on it, usually on small fun days.
Localism: Regulars being unfriendly to visitors. Not the Newquay way: say hello, wait your turn and you will be fine.

New to it? Learn between the black and white chequered flags, where the RNLI lifeguards put surfboards, and keep out of the red and yellow swimming area. If in doubt, a lesson is the quickest way in: see Lessons & hire in the app.

People

Grom: A young surfer. Usually fearless and better than you.
Kook: Someone who does not know the rules or the ropes yet. We were all one once.
Charger: Someone who goes for the biggest, scariest waves.
Shredder (ripper): A very good surfer.
Sponger (shark biscuit): Teasing names surfers give bodyboarders. Said with love, mostly.
Soul surfer: Surfs for the joy of it, not for competition or likes.

Kit

Foamie: A soft foam board. Safe, floaty and what every surf school uses.
Longboard (log, mal): A long board, about nine feet or more. Easy to paddle, made for small waves and style.
Shortboard: A short, pointy performance board for bigger, steeper waves.
Fish: A short, wide board with a split tail. Fun in small waves.
Leash (leggie): The cord from your ankle to your board, so it does not hit anyone else.
Wax: Rubbed on the deck for grip. “Not worth waxing up” means it is not worth going.
Ding: A crack or dent in a board. Get it fixed before water gets in.
5/4, 4/3, 3/2: Wetsuit thickness in millimetres, body then arms. In Newquay, a 5/4 with boots in winter and a 3/2 in summer.

Newquay & Cornish

The Cribbar: Newquay’s big wave reef off Towan Head. Only breaks on huge swells, and only for experts with a jet ski. NQY NOW has a Cribbar watch.
Dreckly: Cornish for “later, at some point, maybe”. “The wind will drop dreckly.”
Proper job: Cornish for “well done, that’s great”.
’Ansum: Cornish for lovely, or great. “Proper ’ansum out there.”
Emmet: Cornish for a tourist (it means ant). Mostly a joke: we are glad you are here.
Geddon: Cornish for “go on, nice one”.

See today’s Newquay surf report