Skeg heads and fin boys lay down their weapons.
Surfers will gladly fight about anything. Wave height, degree of rotation, if the strand connecting surfboard to ankle is called a “leg rope” or a “leash,” etc. ad infinitum. Fight and charge, attack and parry. The linguistic war, in particular, has been raging since Tom Blake invented the surfboard fin back in 1935, declaring, “Look at his fin.” Woody Brown, nearby, sneered, “That’s no fin. That’s a skeg.”
Corpses line the many etymological battlefields and it was thought that it would be a “forever war.” Thankfully the Olympics, reimagined in 1896 to bring the world together in peace and harmony, has just ended it.
Surfing 101: Olympic terminology and glossary is now, officially, our guide and let us peruse some terms, together, while white doves flutter.
Aerial: Complex small-wave maneuver in which both surfer and board launch into the air off the top of a wave, before dropping back down into the same wave.
Axe/axed: A heavy wipeout, usually involving the wave’s lip impacting directly on a surfer. Also called drilled, pummeled, etc.
Bail/bail out: To abandon or ditch one’s surfboard before getting wiped out by the wave, either paddling out, or while riding the wave.
Carving: A surfing technique in which the surfer creates big, deep turns by sinking much or all of the rail of the surfboard during each turn.
Cutback: A classic surfing move used to change direction when streaking ahead of the curl of a wave with a powerful turn back toward the breaking part of the wave. Cutbacks are an important element in surfing as the maneuver repositions the surfer closer to the power of the wave.
Drop-in: When a surfer initially goes down the face of the wave after catching a wave. Also a term used to describe catching a wave in front of another surfer who is already riding, which is a general breach of surfing etiquette.
Pitted: “Getting pitted” (or “getting barreled”) is when a surfer rides inside the hollow, tunnel-like part of a barrel wave. Also known as tube riding.
Cowabunga.
But what does it mean to “snake” someone?
More as the story develops.
