Terms
596: Another name for a darkslide. (NYC term for their 'grind of the
month')
Acid drop: A large fall or gap that you typically jump into or over.
Acid grind: A grind in which your soul foot is on the bar/curb normally,
but instead of your front foot being perpendicular to the bar like normal,
it points in the opposite direction.
Air: What you want to catch!!
Air Kedidi: Any time you catch air, and your legs begin to bicycle as you
lose control. It usually comes before a big fall!
Alley-oop: A move in which you turn one way while rotating another. Ie-
you catch air on a ramp going right to left, yet you spin clockwise. When
used in reference to grinding, it means doing the grind backwards. An example
of this would be an
alley-oop soul. This has the same stance as a soul grind yet you slide
the object soul foot first.
Alley-oop Soul: A soul grind in which you have a normal soul grind stance,
but slide soul foot first (or going backwards).
Armor: Your pads, man! Wear them with pride!
Anti-rocker: A type of wheel setup in which you have small wheels in the
middle of the skates, and larger wheels on the outside. This allows you
to grind easier, because of the bigger area between wheels.
AWOL: Soyale in which only the toe of the boot and not the whole soul is
on the rail.
Backside: A type of grind. If you are approaching a bar on your right,
and turn 90 degrees counterclockwise to get on it, you are doing a backside
grind.
Bacon in the pan: When you wipe out good on a ramp. You slide around and
shrivel up just like frying bacon..
Bannana: Another term for swithc (or unnatural).
Bar: Common name for a grinding bar or rail.
Bearings: The two round things in the center of your wheel that allows
it to spin.
Berani: A front flip with a 180 in it.
Bio: Sideways spin. (Preferably horizontal)
Brainless: A back flip with a 540 done on a ramp. The trick is to watch
the coping go by as you spin and flip.
Buddah: See Unity.
Budget Variation: A variation in which you only have to move one foot.
This trick is much easier than the two footed variations.
Bullshit Grind: West coast term for a tabernacle grind.
Bump: A term for stair riding. Usage- Lets go bump some stairs.
Cab: A term for a fakie 360.
Cabalerno: A backflip with a 180 in it.
California Roll: See Med Spin.
Camel: Another word for a toe-tap.
Capped: When a rail has caps put on it that makes it impossible to grind.
Caveman Rail: Rails that are really high and hard to get on.
Cess Slide: Where you are doing a hockey stop with your skates. Ie- you
slide sideways on both skates. Its usually done going down a slope or on
a smooth surface.
Christ: A backslide in which the heel of the non-grinding skate is resting
on front of the sliding skate. Clicking in: Phrase used to describe the
click you make when you jump up and lock in a rail for a grind.
Coping: The metal bar going horizontally across the top of a ramp. This
allows you to grind or stall easily.
Cowboy Grind: Grind in which you do a frontside (or backside) on both outside
edges. To do this your feet have to be close and your knees bowed out like
you are a cowboy on a horse.
Crab: Where you skate along sideways with your heels touching each other.
Crossed: Term used to describe grabs in which you reach over (or cross)
your body to do the grab. Ie- A crossed rocket is when you are in a rocket,
and grab with one hand the skate on the opposite side.
Crossed up: Similar to crossed. However in this one, your feet are what
crosses up, and not your hands.
Curb grind: A grind that is done on a curb. (See grind)
Darkslide grind: A grind in which you are doing a 'double' royale. Your
front foot is pointed in the opposite directions (acid).
Demon grind: A grind in which you soul grind using the inside of your skate
instead of the usual outside.
Diana: A term for a farside alley-oop miszou.
Dickey Grind: See Neighborhood grind.
Disaster: Generally assosiated with grinding. You do a disaster grind when
you jump high (possibly doing a grab), land, and grind.
Double Ore-Ida: Vert trick in which you an alley-oop 720.
Droping In: Whenever you enter a ramp from the top of it.
Duck Walk: Where you skate on the toe wheel of one skate and the heel wheel
of the other.
Dumb Soul: Another name for an acid soul (front foot turned the other way).
Egg Plant: Handplant in which you plant only the outside hand. Ie- You
go vertacle by turning counterclockwise and you plant your right hand.
Elbow: Where you have one mini-half pipe placed at an angle next to another
one allowing you to transfer between them.
Express Air: Air in which you grab the inside of the skate with the same
side hand.
Ie- grab the inside of the right skate with your right hand. It's generally
done with a stiff other leg. Fakie: Anything done backwards. Ie- Fakie
360 is a backwards to backwards 360.
Farfagnugen: An alley-oop royale grinding position.
Farside: Any grind in which you go over the bar and land on the 'far side'
to start grinding.
Farslide: See suislide because Im not going to try and describe it again!
Fast slide: Where you do a grind (like a frontside), but only use the front
foot.
Fast soul: Where you do a grind with only your soul foot on the bar.
Fishbrain: A topside makio grind.
Flatlander: A skter who skates only street and no vert.
Flat rocker: A wheel setup in which all for wheels are touching the ground.
The outside wheels are larger than the middle 2 wheels, but the middle
2 are rockered down so that all touch.
Flip: Any move in which you rotate a full circle with your waist being
the axis of rotation. You can do this by spinning forwards or backwards.
Frontside: A type of grind. If you are approaching a bar on your right,
and you turn clockwise 90 degrees to get onto it, you are doing a frontside
grind.
Fun soul: A New York term for soul slides.
Granny Smith: A New York term for an alley-oop soul slide.
Grind: Where you jump onto something and slide down it on your skates.
You usually go parallel to a curb, jump and turn 90 degrees, and slide
sideways down it. There are innumerable variations of this.
Grind Plate: A piece of either metal or plastic that you put on the botome
of your skates (between the 2nd and 3rd wheel) to help you grind. This
helps your skates last longer, because you wear away the plate instead
of the boot.
Grommet: Term for a young skater.
Half Cab: Going from skating backwards to skating forwards.
Half Pipe: A type of ramp that is usually made out of wood and looks much
like 'half of a pipe' or a U. They can range from 3 feet high to over 12
feet in height.
Han Solo: An alley-oop makio grind.
Hand Plant: Also called an invert, it is when you go upside down on the
ramp and do a handstand. It is usually done on the coping, but can be done
below the coping as well.
Hardcore: Term used to describe skaters that are not afraid to take risks.
Hip: Section of a ramp that is perpendicular to another section. This allows
for tricks going from one part to the other.
Hip-Hop: An invert in which you touch the coping with your hand twice.
Hop-up kit: A set of axels and screws that goes between your bearings and
gives you much better speed performance. They are generally made of aluminum
and cost around $20.
Indi Grab: Where you do a reverse mute on the ramp. Ie- if you spin counter,
and grab your right skate mute with your left hand.
Invert: When you go upside down on the ramp and do a handstand. It is usually
done on the coping, but can be done below the coping as well.
Japan air: A grab in which you rach beind you to grab the opposite leg
and the non-grabbed leg is bent.
Judo air: Trick in which you reach around behind you with one hand and
grab the skate of the opposite side. The ungrabed leg is straight.
Kang: A Liu Kang thrown in the middle of a fakie 360.
Kind grind: Another term for a diana (or an alley-oop farside miszou).
You have to lean WAAAAYY forward onto the soul foot so that your lead foot
is almost sliding down on the boot.
L.A. Grind: Grind when you are on the outside edges of both skates with
your legs crossed.
Late tricks: Usually describes a spinning trick. It is a trick that you
do just before you land. Ie- You launch off of a ramp, and at the last
second you turn backwards,
thus doing a late 180.
Liu Kang: A grab in which the non-grabbed leg kicks out as if you are doing
a side kick.
Look-back: When you do a shifty, and look behind you as far as you can.
Lowrider soul: Soul grind in which you are sitting down low on your soul
skate.
Makio: Another soul slide term. Done when you grab the non-souling foot
with the hand closest to it.
McTwist: One of the coolest looking tricks done on a vert- It is an inverted
540. You skate up the ramp, let your feet go above your head as you are
spinning. As your feet come back down, finish spinning, and drop back in.
Med Spin: An on the ground 360 in which you go from forward on to feet
to rolling backwards on one foot, then back to forwards on 2 feet.
Meow grind: A miszou royale.
Method air: When you are catching air, you reach down with your hand and
grab the skate on the same side.
Miller Flip: Back flip with a hand placed on the coping as you rotate over.
Miszou: A grind in which you lead with the soul of the skate, and follow
with your back foot perpendicular to the rail/curb. Ie- A soul grind with
the foot thats normally in front of you behind you.
Misty flip: A front flip that is performed sideways. Ie- you hit a jump,
spin sideways and land fakie. You actually do a FAST rotation through 540
and it is close to a bio 540.
Mono: When you skate backwards on one foot while grabbing the other foot.
Mute Air: It is when you reach down with the right hand across the front
of your legs and grab your left foot. (Or vice-versa)
Nasty Grind: See Neighborhood.
Natural: Term used to describe doing grinds going in your better direction.
Negative Royale: A shifty grind in which your lead foot is on the outside
edge.
Neighborhood Grind: A frontside with the trailing foot acid (or pointed
back at you). The back foot is grinding on the outside edge.
Ore-Ida: The term for an alley-oop 360.
Overmiszou: Where you do a farside miszou on a ramp or curb.
Overacid: When you do a topside acid soul on a ramp or ledge.
Oversoul: Term used to describe doing a farside soul on a ramp or curb.
Pool: Can either be real, or made of wood. Its a good place to practice
your ramp skills.
Porn Star: The popular term for an acid miszou.
Pump: This is what you do to gain speed on ramps. It invovles bending and
extending your legs, and using your arms to give you momentum. Kinda like
riding a swing when you were young.
Rail slide: A type of grind in which you slide down a hand rail. Usually
interchangable with grind. (See grind)
Ramp: Generally assumed to be a half pipe, but it can just as easily be
a quarter-pipe or launch ramp.
Rewind: When you come off of a grind or stall, you do a 270 or whatever
spin. Ie- You slide down a rail going left->right, and as you come off,
you do a spin clockwise.
Rockered wheels: Another type of wheel setup in which the middle two wheels
are lower than the outside two wheels. This allows you greater mobility,
but sacrifices stability.
Roughneck: A 540 in which you grab around your to the same leg in the opposite
direction you are rotating. Ie- Spinning counter clockwise you reach with
your left arm around in front of you to grab your left skate.
Royale: Where you grind on the inside edge of one skate, and on the outside
edge of the trailing skate. Sometimes interchanged with the term shifty.
Running Man: When you are in the air and start flailing your arms and legs.
(See Air Kedidi)
Sad Plant: An invert in which only the inside hand is used.
Session: Where you go out and skate. Like a skating session.
Shake And Bake Grind: When you do an alley-oop 360 to frontside on a ramp.
Shift kick: You do one of these when you are pulling a budget variation.
When you switch stances, you jump up, act like you are going to pull a
180 by swiching your feet, then land back down normally.
Shifty grind: When you turn your upper body during a grind while looking
forwards. Sometimes switched with the term royale. Also some call a shift
a royale that isnt on the boot.
Shuffle: Another way to say a cess slide done on a ramp.
Sit in: When you sit down on the coping of a half-pipe, and push yourself
in. Just make sure to push hard so your feet get under you.
Smith grind: What New Yorkers call a soul grind.
Snot Rocket: See tabernackle.
Snub soul: Where you soul like normal with the back foot, but the front
foot grinds along the inside.
Soul grind: A type of grind in which the front foot is on perpendicular
like a normal frontside, but the back foot is on parallel to the rail (Or
grinding on the sole).
Solo: Skating forwards on one foot, while grabbing the other.
Soyale: Used to describe an alley-oop royale soul grind. You are doing
a royale, but the front foot is in an alley-oop soul position.
Spin Cycle: Grind in which you pull at least 5 non-budget variations.
Spine ramp: A type of ramp in which two halfpipes are placed back to back
of each
other allowing transfers.
Stair bashing: Riding down stairs, either forwards, backwards, or sideways.
Stale: Term used to describe any grab in which you grab the wheels of the
skate.
Stalefish grab: When you reach behind you and grab the outside of the opposite
skate.
Stall: When you jump on something (like a curb) with skates, stop on it
for a couple of seconds, and jump off.
Stand In: When you are standing on the coping of a ramp, lean forward,
and drop in.
Stiffy: Any grab in which one legs is straight (or stiff).
Stub Soul: A soul grind in which the front foot is grinding on the inside
edge.
Sui-slide: A one footed grind in which you you grind on the outside edge
of the boot, but it is in front of you. You approach the object from the
left, jump on with the closest foot (the right), and point the toe back
to you so that you are grinding on the outside edge. Kinda like a backside
fast slide.
Switch-Stance: When you are grinding, you switch from a frontside to a
backside, or vise-versa. It is just a 180 while you are sliding. Also used
to describe a grind you are doing in the unnatural direction. The term
is also sometimes used to describe doing an unnatural grind.
Tabernacle grind: A grind in which the trailing foot is on like a frontside
but the lead foot is acid (dumb). Ie- The front foot is doing a backside
while the trailing foot is frontside position. The toes are pointing in
opposite directions. (whew!)
Topside grind: Also refered to as a oversoul (or miszou), it is where you
are doing a 'farside' grind on a plater or the coping, even though your
skate cant rest in a farside position. You will be grinding on the frame.
Training wheel: When you are doing a grind and the front foot is rolling
along the heel wheel. Usually (and assumed) to be done with a topside soul.
Transition: The part of a ramp that goes from horizontal to vertical.
Troque slide: See suislide.
Unity grind: Another term for an LA grind.
Unnatural: Term used to describe when you are doing a grind (or rotating
on a ramp) opposite of the way you normally go.
Variation: Frequently used term to describe just about everything! Switching
a grind from backside to frontside, or going from frontside to soul are
two examples.
Vert: Term used to descrbe any half-pipe that goes vertical at the top.
They are usually around 8-12 feet high.
Vile: Term used to describe a trick done sideways (usually a spin) So if
a spin in kinda sideways and not quite a misty, then it is vile.
Wax(ing): When you scrape wax onto curbs or rails to allow for easier
grinding. Anything from parafin wax to soap to candles works.
Wheelbarrow: See training wheel. Usually done on a backslide.
X grind: A grind in which your soul foot is on the bar normally, but instead
of your front foot being perpendicular to the bar like normal, it is souling
the bar from the other side.