The Tribe: A guide to the language of the surfing world

The Tribe: A guide to the language of the surfing world

The Tribe - A 270 page, High quality paper back book, is fully illustrated terms and descriptions of the language of the surfing world… (The Tribe) is meant to illustrate what has long been said about surfers, which is that they seem to have an unusual camaraderie and language amongst themselves, no matter where they are in the world. Surfers have an almost tribal connection and loyalty to each other, no matter what their native language, ethnicity, or culture may be. They are united in one common cause, which is their love for life, surfing, and the ocean realm. The main objective of this handbook is to help the non-surfing public understand what this unique group of individuals, called surfers, are talking about when describing the waves and their ocean culture. The original idea came from a stark realization that there is definitely a cryptic language amongst surfers worldwide, which most people have no idea about or understanding of. As almost any surfer will tell you, sometimes they may spend hours at their local surf breaks trying to explain to curious onlookers about the strange and amazing events that are unfolding right in front of them. Most surfers are big storytellers by nature, and have a lot to say when asked about what is going on in the water. Often with animated hand gestures and an elevated tone of voice, they will launch into a huge story about surfing with the use of this strange and expressive language. Since the beginning of civilization, cultures around the world have developed their own words and phrases to better explain what they have seen and experienced — eventually forming a dialect and a written language in most cases. Over the years, surfers around the world have developed a mostly unwritten — but very defined — language to describe the exciting and life-changing experience called surfing. By nature, surfers are big story tellers. And for generations, they have tried to out-do one another with a bigger and better “fish story.” But in this case, it’s always a bigger and better wave story, describing the most extreme situations in the most elaborate ways, and attempting to impress and captivate an audience. Surfers tend to use the same words for many different meanings, and it can become confusing to figure out what they’re talking about. But, their terms and phrases are an accurate expression of their experiences in the ocean realm. In this collection of surf terms and short stories, you will find some of the most popular words and phrases that are readily used by surfers around the world, regardless of what their native language or culture is. One of the simple truths about surfers is that wherever they go in the world, they all have one thing in common, which is their love for the ocean and surfing. This glossary of surfing terms may not include every surf-related word that exists, but it does include some of the strangest and most popular words and definitions used by surfers today. Some commonly known words and phrases that may not be included in this book are words such as dude, surf’s up, shoot the curl, hang ten, or cowabunga. These older terms are generally not used much anymore and added to an earlier perception and stereotype of surfers as being an uneducated and unsophisticated group of beach bums who only cared about surfing. For the most part, today’s modern surfer is a very educated and intuitive individual who is highly in-tune with nature and the general ocean environment. To classify these individuals as single-minded rogues would not be fair and would only be a partial truth. This book is organized alphabetically, and all defined terms are set in bold font so that you can easily look up any unfamiliar word or phrase. We sincerely hope that you will enjoy this reference book and that it will help translate some of the most ironic and sarcastic surfing terms into modern English. – Barry Clayton Power