I've been hitting local breaks for a while now with my dinged up 9'6". Still an intermediate but learning to apply footwork and getting better lines...
What has been a struggle for me is speaking in the local dialect when it comes to conversing with other surfers.
I would like to present a scenario that occurred to me the other day, and ask others how they would communicate using their natural surfing lingo.
You're in the water with your log. A rounded out wave starts to approach, but you can't tell if it's gonna shape up by the time it gets to you... You turn around anyway, anticipating. Then you catch the eye of another surfer, who nods at you, telling you it's a good one. You paddle, and sure enough, you catch this sleeper of a wave, with no contesting parties, and glide gleefully down the line.
You paddle back and find the helpful surfer in the lineup and paddle by them to say thanks. What do you say?