The Complete Guide to Longboard Skateboard Slang

If you aren’t familiar with skateboarding vernacular, it may sound like your buddies are speaking a foreign language. But like anything, once you’re familiar with the lingo it will become second nature and you’ll find yourself throwing out skate slang on the regular.

Here are some of the most common skateboarding expressions and meanings. Study up!

---

Click a letter to jump to section:

A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z  | #

---

A

---

ABD

Already been done.

Acid Drop

Refers to riding off a ledge while staying on your board and doing an ollie.

Air

Aka aerial. When a skater clears an obstacle with all wheels off the ground.

Amiright?

Literal translation: "Are we on the same page?" or "Do you catch my drift?" 

---

B

---

Credit: Josh Neuman Youtube

Bail

Fall off your board. 
Did you see that guy just bail? YEEEWWOO that hurt!

(Above)

Roadside (bushing)

What bushing are you running boardside?

Bomb (Bombing)

To ride down a hill fast.
That guy was bombing that hill so hard!

Brain Bucket

Helmet

Burly

Going big with a trick. 
That slide was burly!

---

C

---

Chip

When a piece of wood breaks off the deck. 

Complete

A fully built skateboard. It's got a deck, trucks, wheels, bearings, grip tape, and hardware. 

Dad

Name for people/something to be said.

Are you my dad? Thanks dad. Dad.

Credit: plantrider Youtube

Dialed/On Lock

When you can do a trick perfectly and repeatedly then you have it dialed.

Duro

Short for durometer, the rating of hardness for wheels and bushings.
What duro are you running in your set up?

---

E

---

Eat it / Ate it

To fall off your board and crash. 
Ahh he ate it good.

---

F

---

Face Plant

When you fall off the board and your face connects with the pavement. Ouch!

Fakie

Skating backwards (with your feet in their normal stance).

---

G

---

Gnar

Gnarly. Extreme. On a scale of 1-10 with 10 being extremely extreme and 1 being not so extreme, gnar would be an 11.

Gnar Bar

Variation of gnar.

---

H

---

Heelflip

Similar to a kickflip but reversed. Begin in the ollie position and then use your back flip to lift the board up as your jump.

High Side

When the wheels grip up mid slide and throw you off your board forward, down the hill. Dangerous and no fun. Easy fix: lean back more.

Hot Pocket

A sharp pain in the ankle that's the result of the foot being pushed upwards when landing. 

Hyped

When you’re hyped about something=you’re excited or pumped up.

---

J

---

Jetty Ledge

An out ledge. 

---

K

---

Knucks fo lucks

Nuff said. (We're actually not even sure what this means, it's just fun to say).

Kickflip

A basic trick that involves lifting the board 180 degrees from the ground by leaning back to raise the nose (can be done on a ramp or the ground).

---

L

---

Landing Bolts

When you land a trick perfectly.

Landy

Short for Landyachtz, a brand of skateboards.

Low Side

When the wheels slide out more than you expected and the board shoots out from you. Holes in ya pants. Easy fix: lean forward over the board more.

---

M

---

Make

When you land a trick you’ve been working on. Props!

Mobbing

Going fast, killing it, shredding like crazy.

That kid is mobbing!

---

N

---

Nollie

A reverse ollie.

Nose

The front part of a skateboard. 

---

O

---

Ollie

The first trick you should learn. It’s a forward jumping trick that involves snapping the tail of the board off the ground, bringing your entire board into the air.

Otang

Short for Orangatang, Loaded's wheel brand.

---

P

---

Poser

A non-skater pretending to be a skater. 

---

R

---

Roadside (bushing)

Refers to the bushing closest to the road and above the truck hanger. See also: Boardside (bushing)

What bushing are you running roadside?

---

S

---

Shralp

Similar to shred, may be used as a step up from shred.

Holy *@$# that dude was straight shralpping!

Shred

To skate in an outstandingly gnarly or sketchy circumstance that proves your skill as a skateboarder.

Shred Sled

Your longboard set up.
Grab your shred sled man, let's go bomb!

 

Sick

Cool. Rad. Awesome.

Sketchy

Not perfect. Think barely making a landing, a poorly constructed skate park, or executing a trick over a gap.

Snake

When at a skatepark, you typically take turns on the obstacles. The snake is the guy who drops in when it’s not his turn.

Dude, that guy totally snaked me!

Steeze

Coolness. 
Look at that guy and all his steez.

Steezy (Steezey)

Coolness with a Y.

Stoked

To be intensely hyped about something. Also the name of yours truly.

Sumurfing

Smurf surfing.

Switch

Riding in the opposite direction, or opposite stance, than usual. If you’re regular, it’s riding goofy and vice versa.

---

T

---

Thane

Short for urethane, which is short for polyurethane. 
Thane is what wheels are made of. Did you see all that thane that guys slide lay down?

Credit: Fireball Supply Co.

Thane Lines

The awesome urethane lines longboard wheels make when riders do slides. Groms and pros alike measure their thane lines to see whose are biggest.

Throw Down

Doing a trick that puts it all out there. 
Did you see that guy throw down that heelside? It was awesome.

Trill

True and real. In other words "that was trill"= "that was cool"

---

Y

---

Yew

Used to show excitement.

“Yew! Sick kickflip!”

---

#'s

---

180

Half rotation.

360

Full rotation.

540

A 540 degree rotation in the air.

720

Two 360’s (forwards or backwards).

900

Two and a half rotations. Major props if you can land this one!

Got any more to add? Post 'em below and we will periodically update this guide