Skateboarding slang
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Skateboarding slang is slang used by skateboarders. Most skateboarders use different terms for different tricks and obstacles. Most skateboarding tricks have specific names (though they usually aren't considered slang in their own right). However, many tricks have several different names, and new names and tricks are evolving every day.
Below is a list of slang terms and a brief definition.
Please note that the now-separate subcultures of skating and surfing were once extremely tight-knit and frequently crossed over, as all skaters were surfers and vice versa. Therefore, many surfer words are common parts of a skater's vocabulary, regardless of whether or not the skater is also a surfer.
[edit] Slang terms
- # Set/Stair
- A # set/stair (pronounced as a number + "set/stair" refers to a set of stairs. Skaters frequently ollie or perform tricks off of stairs. Stairs can be hard to come by, as many are privately owned. A common usage is, "let's go skate the 3-set."
- 3/4 Pipe
- A half-pipe extended to the point where it resembles a full pipe with one quarter removed. It is not ridden the same way as a half-pipe is ridden.
- 5-0
- While the most common usage of this term is as a grind, the 5-0 grind (see Grinds (skateboarding)), it is also used to refer to the police (a play on both the trick of the same name, and Hawaii Five-0).
- Air
- To propel oneself into the air without popping the board. The act of performing an air is known as "catching air."
- Full Pipe
- A full pipe is a piece of huge cement piping with a large diameter, often of ten feet or more. Skaters start at the bottom and gradually start getting higher and higher up the sides as they push back and forth. Pipe-riding is not so common any more. A few notable full pipes are Toxic Land and Glory Hole.
- Half-Pipe
- A U-shaped type of ramp that is ridden as part of Vert skating. Skaters drop in at one end, skate to the other side, to a trick on the other end, and repeat the back-and forth motion. Half-Pipes are so-called because they resemble a full-pipe cut in half.
- Kicker or Launch ramp
- A small ramp designed for catching air off of. Skaters usually just ride off them, ollie off them, or perform flip tricks off of them.
- Old-School
- Refers to a facet of skateboarding that is generally considered to be "extinct" or at least not a common practice in modern skateboarding. Most true skateboarders embrace their forefathers and to them, calling something old-school is a good thing, as in "That vert was OLD SCHOOL!"
- Rail
- Any long piece of metal or stone that is fit for grinding. Rails can be round or square, though square rails are common only in skateparks, where they are built for riding on. Skaters grind along rails. Rails that skaters commonly ride are handrails alongside stairs.
- Ledge
- Concrete such as a curb or park bench that is fit for grinding. A ledge is differs from a rail being that a rail is no wider than the width of average size trucks (7.75 inches).
- Wax
- Skateboard wax is used for grinding. Some rails and ledges need to be waxed first to grind them. Alternitaves include candles, crayons, etc.
- Roll-in
- A type of ramp designed specifically for riding down. Skaters rarely perform tricks on these, nor do they ride up them (unless they are getting back up to the top for another run). These ramps are designed to give a skater maximum momentum as he rockets down them, so he gains enough speed to attempt large obstacles ahead.
- To Bust
- To bust a trick is perfectly executing trick, or performing a trick that the skateboarder has been working very hard to land. "You busted a perfect Smith grind!"
