Portuguese Surfer Vocabulary: A Guide To “Surfistês Brasileiro”

Portuguese Surfing Vocabulary: A Guide To “Surfistês Brasileiro”

Maya Gabeira (born April 10, 1987 in Rio de Janeiro) is a professional big wave surfer from Brazil, already a two-time winner of Best Female Surfer in the world.

Basic Surfing Vocab

o surfista – surfer

a prancha de surfe (or just prancha) – surfboard

pranchão – long board

cera para a prancha, parafina – board wax

leash (pronounced “lésh” in “surfistês brasileiro” – brazilian surfer language), or cordinha – board leash

roupa de neoprene (known more commonly in brazil as a “long john“) – wet-suit

Talking About The Wave  (Falando das Ondas)

tubo – barrel

parede – shoulder, or face

crista (da onda), a parte mais alta da onda – lip (the highest part of the wave)

espuma – whitewater, foam

ressaca – the surf, undertow (this word also means “hangover” in brazil – “estou de ressaca” – “i’m hungover.”)

Talking About The Wind (Falando Sobre o Vento)

terral – offshore winds

maral – onshore winds

Talking About Maneuvers (Falando das Manobras)

cavada – bottom turn

rasgada – re-entry

batida – off-the-lip

pegar um tubo, entubar – tube ride / barreling

drop – take-off

joelinho, golfinho, furar a onda – duck dive

tartaruga – turtle roll / eskimo roll

Expressions From “Surfistês Brasileiro”

-Cera é importante para manter o equilíbrio na prancha. – Board wax is important to help balancing on the board.

-Se tomar um caldo, a cordinha impede que você perca a prancha. – If you wipe-out, the leash prevents the loss of the board. 

-Caso planeje começar a surfar, precisará de um long john. – If you plan on taking up surfing, you will need a wet-suit. 

-Pegar um tubo é o ponto alto do dia do surfista. – Getting barreled is the highlight of a surfer’s day. 

-Conforme o surfista entra na onda, ele passa a mão livre na parede. – As the surfer drops in, he puts his free hand in the face of the wave.

-Manobras na crista da onda são estilosas. – Turns on the lip of the wave are stylish. 

-A parte branca da onda é chamada de espuma. – The foamy part of a wave is the whitewater.

-O terral produz ondas perfeitas no oceano. – Offshore winds make perfect ocean waves.

-O maral não oferece boas condições para o surfe. – Onshore winds do not offer good surfing conditions.

-A cavada é uma das manobras mais importantes. – The bottom turn is one of the most important maneuvers.

-Na rasgada, o surfista desce de volta com a espuma. – In a re-entry, the surfer comes back down with the white.

-Para a batida, você quase sai da onda e, daí, vira rápido e volta. – For an off-the-lip, you almost exit the wave and then quickly turn around to get back.

-Pegar um tubo é uma manobra que pontua alto em competições. – The tube ride or barreling is a very high scoring trick in competitions.

-Antes do drop, observe a etiqueta do surfe para ver se a onda é sua. – Before taking off, observe surf etiquette to see if the wave is yours.

-Para o joelhinho, o surfista precisa remar com velocidade ao se aproximar da onda. – To duck dive, the surfer needs to paddle quickly when approaching the wave.

-Num pranchão, os surfistas usam a tartaruga para remar e passar a rebentação. – On a long board, surfers use the turtle roll to paddle out and get past the breaking point.

Slang Surfing Phrases

-“Tirar Onda” – means to show off

–“Tem que ir na onda” – “you have to go with the flow”

-“Segurar a Onda” – literally means to hold on to the wave. But when used in a conversation, it means to deal with a situation without losing one’s composure. In English, we’d translate it as “hanging in there” or “sticking it out,” since it means to put up with something you don’t want to put up with. Basically it means to deal with something difficult.

Examples:

Vai segurando a onda ai com a criança que a mãe já está a caminho. – Just hang in there with the kid, since her mother is on the way.

Acho que é melhor segurar a onda até a empresa falir. – I think it’s better to wait it out until the business goes bankrupt.

A menina não conseguiu segurar a onda, e acabou ligando para o pai dela pedindo para buscá-la. – The girl couldn’t stick it out, and ended up calling her dad to ask him to pick her up.

Quanto tempo você consegue segurar a onda sem comer chocolate? – How long can you go without eating chocolate?

It’s also helpful to see the expression in its literal form, with this news report about surfing in Rio de Janeiro: