In the old days of surfing in South Africa, you did it for the enjoyment. As legendary figure Harry Bold says, they would prop up their massive boards against a wall on the beach, and leave them there, safely. Surfing was for fun. The language they used was a more quaint version of the mutant surfspeak we use today.
AGGRESSIVE SURFER
Surfer who pushed the limits. In the 1950s and 1960s, you were called ‘aggressive’ if you ‘attacked’ the waves to do moves.
COVER-UP
Surfer rides out of sight behind the lip. ‘He got a cover-up’.
BACKIE
A wave that breaks in the area furthest from the shore, where the biggest swells are encountered – the back line.
BROADIE
A wave that breaks with a wall to enable the surfer to track across the wall, parallel to shore.
DRAK
Nasty, horrible or yucky.
FOAMIE
The broken white water of a wave.
GREMMIE
Young, inexperienced or learner surfer. Now known as grommets.
HIT OUT
Paddle out.
KRAAKER
Big, powerful, good wave. The word used nowadays is ‘cooker’.
KOOK
Derogatory term for gremmies.
LOCKED IN
Under the lip but not covered up. Riding in the curl of the wave. ‘He was locked in.’
LUNCH
Wipe-out. ‘Jack was about to get his lunch.’
PEARLED
Nose of the board digs in. ‘Chookie caught a kraaker, but pearled when
taking off.’ The term has since been bastardised. Today a pearler means
a perfect wave.
PLAY
Classic, great. ‘Let’s hit out, the slides are play,’ means ‘Let’s paddle out, the surf is cooking.’
ROOSTER TRAIL
Surfboard wake. Heavier and longer surfboards created a more defined
spray. Modern surfers draw a thinner line with lighter, shorter boards.
SKITOOLS
Baggies. A term for the loose-fitting board shorts worn while surfing.
SKEG
Fin.
SLIDE
Wave. The wave at St Francis is a ‘right slide’.
SOUP
Broken wave or white water. ‘The wave closed out and he rode the soup.’
STOKEY
Someone who is stoked.
TAKES GAS
Wipe-out. More literally, this term referred to a surfer being knocked off his board by the wave.
TOO MUCH
Unreal, radical. Today’s equivalent would be ‘classic’, ‘rad’ or ‘awesome’. That wave was ‘too much’.
ZIGZAG
The motion of a surfboard.
