Want to speak Surfer? Of course you do.
Here’s a fun glossary of surfing terms you may want to work into your everyday conversation. Bonus points for dropping a few of these phrases in stuffy meetings.
If you have been to Hawaii (probable birthplace of surfing) then you are familiar with the greeting HOWZIT, Hawaiian for "How Is it."
A term surfers use for those who surf "Boogie Boards"—considered uncool by all...except spongers.
Hawaiian lingo references for brother, pal, etc.
BREATHING RESIN FUMES Refers to the process of building surfboards. Fiberglass cloth is soaked in an activated resin that emits nasty fumes and requires one to wear a gas mask. One of the main reasons Oded left that line of work.
Heading out to surf at the crack of dawn when offshore winds prevail and the lineup is less crowded with kooks (see "Grom"). Most hardcore surfers—and those of us who also have a job—tend to be there early.
Being in the break zone of the waves when a monster set comes in. You are not a true surfer unless you have experienced (and survived) this life-and-death situation—or at least mastered the art of telling your surf buddies that you have in a convincing manner. Ocean Beach, in San Francisco, is known as a spot with a nasty beach break that tests a surfer's resolve to paddle past the breakers and get to the lineup.
An expression used mostly in Costa Rica. It means "Pure Life," but in surfer lingo embodies the concept of simple, relaxed living in harmony with the ocean.
Short for grommet, refers to someone who is just beginning to learn how to surf, also known as a kook. Older surfers like them for their enthusiasm (although they will not admit it) but hate them for their tendency to paddle right into their path just as they are about to get tubed.
