Dictionary of aggressive inline skating terms
This dictionary of inline skating terms was created in 1997 - it's quite outdated.
This dictionary of inline skating terms was created in 1997, why many of these terms aren’t used much anymore. You might be able to learn a bit though - when you read it through, you’ll be amazed how the trick names was already there even before the tricks got popular.
Otherwise, you’ll just have a good laugh.
180: If you have ever done a 360, then it is half of that. Say that you are standing and facing awall. If you jump and land facing opposite of that wall, then thatis a 180.
360: A full spin. Again, if you arefacing the wall again, and do a 360, you land back down and facethe wall again.
360 to farside soul: Same as 360 to soul, but you land farside, making the landing semi-blind.
360 to soul: skate up to the object and turn to the outside doing a 360, then land in a soul. The landing will be blind.
540: I hope you get this now. A 540 is like a 360 with an ‘extra 180 spin’
596: What the New Yorkers call their ‘grind of the month’ or another term for a Darkslide.
720 , etc…I would hope you get this by now.
ABEC: stands for ‘Annular Bearing Engineering Committee.’ ABEC is a term usually used when describing how fast a bearing is.
Acid Drop: A very huge fall that you jump over.
Acid Grind: A grind in which the front or leading foot is in the opposite position.
Aggressive skating: Freestyle and Vert skating. Freestyle is also referred to as ‘street skating’ or Hardcore skating’ and consists of many tricks called grinds, which you ride on handrails or cement. Vert skating is done on a large Half pipe which resembles a ‘U.’ Vert skaters also have many tricks, and street and vert are intertwined because of the ‘grinding’ on the vert coping.
Air: When you are flying (usually after a jump) and stay in the air for a while.
Air Kedidi: When you are in the air and your legs bicycle and flail as though you were going to fall!
Alley-oop: A trick done in the opposite direction, or Backwards.
Anti-rockered setup: Riding two larger wheels on the outer boot and two smaller wheels on the inside of each skate. This is usually done for more room to grind on.
AWOL: When only the toe of your skate is grinding on a soyale, instead of the whole soul skate.
Axle: They are the two screws or bolts that hold your wheels onto you skates.
Backside: A grind in which you turn 90 degrees before landing between the two middle wheels (Each skate is riding on the inside boot or on the grindplates, like a split but not all the way down.)
Backslide: This grind is like a royale except you are only grinding on the back skate, and the front skate is usually grabbed.
Bacon in the Pan: When you fall and get cooked on the ramp. Like a frying, hot piece of bacon.
Banana: When a ledge, curb or rail curves to one side it is called a banana ledge, curb, or rail.
Bearings: A round, piece of metal that has little ball bearings that fit inside of your wheels to make it spin. It is usually grouped by the speed, see ABEC.
Bearing Race: The inner casting of a bearing where the ball bearings are located. The race is polished at different levels. The more it is polished the faster the bearing is.
Bearing spacer: The spacer is usually metal or plastic, and it sits in the hollow hole between yout two bearings to make your wheels spin.
Berani: A 180 front flip.
Bio: A horizontal sideway spin.
Blind 270 to Frontside: Skate up to the object and look and turn to the outside of the object spin around and land it on frontside.
Blindside: When you don’t look at the object while approaching your grind. That’s why it is called a Blindside!
Boardwalk: A grind where the front foot is on a topside soul, and the backfoot is on the toe of the wheel.
Bowl: Resembles a ‘bowl’ like the ones you eat your cereal out of. It is like unlimited skating on every side because there is no end.
Brainless: A regular backflip with a 540.
Buddah: a.k.a. Unity.
Budget Variation: a variation that involves moving only one foot.
Bullshit Grind: a.k.a. Tabernacle grind, named used in the West Coast.
Bunny: A newcomer to skating that always grabs on to things to keep himself from falling down.
Cab: A fakie 360.
Cabalerno: A 180 backflip.
California Roll: a.k.a. Med spin.
Camel: a.k.a. toe-tap.
Capped: When a part of a rail has little metal caps covering it so that it is not grindable.
Carving: Skating across the vertical face of a pipe.
Caveman Rail: A very high rail that is difficult to jump onto.
Cess: It is like the position of a royale except you can’t cess on a rail, but on smooth and flat surfaces on the outer boots of your skate.
Christ: When the heel of the freeskate on a backslide is resting on the trailing skate.
Clicking in: The ‘click’ or sound that skaters make when landing on a rail with their skates.
Coping: Then metal bar used to grind on at the very top of a vert or ramp.
Core: The base or foundation of a wheel. Usually determines the strenghth of a wheel.
Corkscrew: A Fakio Bio 540
Corner to corner: Launching in the air from one corner of a ramp and coming down on the same side corner.
Cowboy Grind: Grinding on the opposite sides of your skates like a backside or frontside, where the wheels are facing each other.
Crab: When you place your heels of your skates side by side and skate along.
Crossed: When you grab the opposite skate while doing a trick, like grabbing a left skate with the right hand.
Crossed up: When your feet are crossed while doing a trick.
Crossover: Crossing you legs when you turn.
Crosswalk: Similar to the sidewalk grind, except that the front foot is on an acid.
Curb grind: Any grind done on the curb of a sidewalk.
Darkslide: Almost like a royale, except the front skate is on an acid.
Deadfish: The back skate is on the front wheel, and the front foot is on a topside. (1st def)
Deadfish: the front skate is on the back wheel and your back skate is on topside just like a training wheel but on the ground. (2nd def.)
Demon: Like a soul grind except the front skate is on the inside (like a cowboy).
Diana: a.k.a. Farside alley-oop miszou.
Dickey Grind: a.k.a. Neighborhood grind.
** Disaster:** When you do a large jump before landing a grind.
Dismounts from a Frontside Grind: like a rewind from frontside with the right foot leading. You go for a 270º turn to your right, and land backwards; and vice versa.
Dismounts from a Soul Grind: Like coming off a soul with a rewind or revert.
Double Ore-Ida: An alley-oop 720 on the Vert.
Droping in: Coming into the ramp from the top or starting point.
Duck walk: When you skate on a toe and a heel of your skates.
Dumb soul: a.k.a. Acid soul.
Durometer: A wheels hardness. The higher number a wheel is, the harder it is.
Eggplant: A handplant using only the outside hand.
Elbow: The angle between two half-pipes placed by each other that allows transfers.
Express Air: When you grab the inner skate with the same hand.
Fakie 270 to Frontside: You skate up to the object backwards, then turn to the outside and spin into fronside.
Fakie: Not like an alley-oop, but similar. Say if you were skating a normal soul, then you exit with a fakie, that means you jump backwards off the object you are grinding. If you are on the vert, and go backwards, that is a fakie.
Farfenugnuegen: a.k.a. Alley-oop royal.
Farside: When you approach the object you are grinding and land on the other side.
Farside Mizu: Jump into a mizu, going to the other side of the object you are ginding.
Farside soul: Doing a farside (look above) into soul position.
** Farslide:** a.k.a. Suislide
Fastslide: A grind using only the front foot.
Fast soul: A grind using just the soul foot.
Fifi Backslide It’s like a hobo grind but you grind on your right foot and grab your left foot behind you.
Fishbone: A fishbrain with the free skate horizontally grabbed, like a rocket fishbrain.
Fishbrain: Topside makio
Flatlander: Someone that skates pure street.
Flat Rocker: A setup with all 4 wheels touching the ground; outer two larger than the inner 2.
Flat side: The bottom of a ramp where it is ‘flat.’
Flat spin: A horizontal backflip - instead of spinning on the vert’s axis, you spin on the grounds axis. Done on the halfpipe!
Flip: When you fly in the air head first, landing back n your skates, done forwards or backwards.
Flying Fish: A fishbrain or rocket fishbrain done in the air (off the vert)
Frame Spacer: A piece of hardware that fits inside the axle holes in your frame.
Frank Sinatra: a.k.a. shifty miszou.
Freestyle skating: Another term used for street skating.
Frontside: A grind in which you turn 90 degrees before landing between the two middle wheels (Each skate is riding on the inside boot or on the grindplates, like a split but not all the way down.)
Fun soul: a.k.a.soul slide (term from NY)
Granny Smith: a.k.a. ally-oop soul slide (term from NY)
Grind: Anything that you basically ride on your skates! Like sliding and doing differnt tricks. Every trick that requires you to slide on an object is grinding.
Grind plates: The two plastic or metal sticks that fit on the inner part of your skates, so the frame does not wear away as quickly.
Grommet: A young, or new skater.
H-Grind: A double soul that uses each skate on the soul foot
Half-cab: Fakie 180.
Half-Cab Mizu: Like going backwards and turning to the inside of the object you are grinding; jumping forward to the front and land in Mizu. OR, going backwards and turning to the outside.
Half-cab soul: Completing a 180º turn onto the soul position.
Half-Cab to Farside Soul: A combo of the half-cab and farside soul.
Half-pipe: Can be called a vert. Liike two quarter pipes stuck together. Looks like a ‘U’ and can be different sizes.
Han Solo: a.k.a. alley-oop makio.
Hand plant: Like a hanstand on the coping of the vert. a.k.a. invert.
Hardcore: The true skaters out there that rip it up, and shred it in the skating scene, who risk themselves every day to skate hard. These are the people that make this sport ‘hardcore.’
Hip: Usually a part of a bowl or ramp that is like a sideways spine, but intacted; where you can do transfers and stuff.
Hip-Hop: A handplant or invert where you slap the coping bar twice.
Hobo: A grind like the backslide, except the front skate is rolling on the toe.
Hop-up kit: A kit that includes spacers, screws, and axels to improve your bearings.
IISA: The International In-line skating Association, acting like a governing body of in-line skating.
Indi Grab: a.k.a. reverse mute
Invert: Like a handplant, where you do a handstand on the coping of the vert.
Japan air: When you grab the opposite leg behind you and the free leg is bent.
Judo air: When you reach behind and grab the opposite skate and the free leg is straight.
Kang: A liu kang can be used in a fakie 360.
Kazoo: a.k.a. alley-oop meow
Kind grind: a.k.a. alley_oops farside miszou or Diana. It is like having your front skate in a topside and the back skate grinding from the inside (on the grind plate like a royale) going backwards (alley-oop).
Laces: the little ropes that keep your skates on.
Ladle: when you royale a rail thats on the edge of a roof.
L.A. Grind: a.k.a. unity
Late tricks: A spinning trick that you pull at the last second before you land a trick.
Liu Kang: A trick done on the vert where one leg is grabbed and the other leg is kicked out.
Look-back: When you look back as far as you can while doing a shifty or royale.
Lowrider soul: When you are sitting very low on your soul skate.
Magic trick: Going from royale to alley-oop soul without jumping,
Mctwist: Inverted 540. Your feet go above your head while spinning in the air.
Med spin: A 360 done on-ground where you go forward to backwards on foot, then back to forwards on both feet.
Meow: a.k.a. miszou royale
Mezu: Like a soul grind, except the soul foot is in the front and the other foot is behind you.
Method air: Grabbing the skate with the same arm while in the air.
Miller flip: Placing your hand on the coping while you rotate a backflip.
Mistrial: aka topside miszou royale or overpuss.
Miszou: The front foot is in soul position and the back foot is like the front foot on a regular soul grind.
Misty flip: A horizontal front flip that you land in fakie. Almost like a bio 540.
Mono: Skating backwards on one skate and grabbing the other.
Mute: Grabbing the opposite skate with your hand.
Nasty Grind: a.k.a. Neighborhood
Natural: Doing tricks in the direction that is easier for you.
Negative Royale: Grind where the front skate is on the outer boot.
Neighborhood: like a backside with the back skate in acid position.
Nifty: aka negative shifty or alley-oop royale.
Nollie: Grind where you are in the spaces between your first 2 wheels instead of the middle ones.
Ore-Ida: aka Alley-oop 360.
Over miszou: Farside miszou
Overacid: topside acid
Oversoul: farside soul
Over-Vert: This ramp will make you keep going around, then it launches you back in the flat.
Phillips 66: Fakie 360 handplant
Porn star: aka Acid miszou
Pumping: Getting more speed, swinging back and forth on a vert, ramp, etc.
Quarter-Cab Frontside: Approach the object, then look and turn to the inside and jump into the frontside grind from a 90º turn.
Ramp: an object usually leading into the air for you to fly off of, like a quarter pipe, half pipe, etc.
Raspberry: When you scrape you skin and it exposes your skin and blood, it looks like the color of a reaspberry.
Rebound: the amount of energy put into a wheel that is returned.
Recreational skating: Just inline skating for fun.
Rewind: A clockwise spin exit after grinding a trick.
Revert: A 90º turn off the object you are grinding, like exiting a trick backwards or fakie.
Roach Clip: aka Darkslide
Rockered wheels: Wheel setup where the two middle wheels are lower that the outside wheels.
Rocket: When both legs are extended straight and you reach out to grab your skates.
Rocket Troque: Kinda like the suislide but 1 leg is straight in front of you.
Rockio: aka rocket makio
Roughneck: It is like going the opposite way from which you grab your leg with the same arm rotating doing a 540.
Royale: also known as a shifty. When the front skate is grinding on the inside boot and the back skate is on the outer boot, both between the two middle wheels.
Roywalk: Like a boardwalk but your front foot is in a royale position.
Running man: aka air kedidi. When you take a fall and start twisting and turning like a running man, flailing around.
Sad plant: Using the inside hand to invert.
Savannah: a unity done with your legs crossed the opposite way
Session: A period of time used to skate.
Shake and bake: alley-oop 360 to fronside on a ramp
Shift kick: You are getting ready to pull a 180, but instead land back down normally, usually at the time of a switch-stance. This is done in a budget variation.
Shifty: aka royale. Turning your upper body looking forwards on a grind.
Shifty Royale: Like a backslide but the front skate is in the fronside position.
Shitface: aka tabernacle or bullshit grind
Shuffle: aka cedd.
Sidesurf: Both feet creating a horizontal line rolling along.
Sideswipe: Like a sidewalk except the front skate is in the royale position instead of a soul.
Sidewalk: Like a porn star except the back skate is gliding on the laces of the boot.
Sit-down: A low grind done sort of ‘sitting down.’
Sit-in: When you are sitting at the top of a vert, and you push your self in while sitting at the coping.
Skitching: Grabbing on to a car or vehicle while on your skates.
Smith Grind: A term the New Yorkers use for a soul grind.
Snot Rocket: aka tabernacle
Snub soul: Like a regular soul but the front skate is grinding along the inside.
Soul grind: When the front skate is grinding on the inside grindplate and the back skate is going the same direction as what you are grinding (on the lower frame soul area.)
Solo: Going forwards on one skate, and grabbing the free skate.
Soyale: It is like a backwards soul grind, or alley-oop royale soul grind. The front foot is in alley-oop, and the front is in a royale position.
Speed skating: A racing type of skating. You go really fast on flexible boot skates that usually have 5 wheels on each boot.
Spider: where you plant both hands on the coping kind of like a hand stand.
Spin cycle: When you rip 5 non-budget variations.
Spine ramp: When two verts are placed back to back, sort of resmbling a ‘W’ that allows you to transfer.
Stair-bashing: Skating down stairs in any direction.
Stale: When you grab the wheels of your skate.
Stalefish grab: Grabbing the outside of the opposite skate.
Stall: Locking into a skate position for a few seconds, then jumping off.
Stand in: Going in from the coping of a ramp.
Stiffy: a grab where one leg is straight.
Stub soul: Like a soul grind, except the front skate is on the inside edge.
Sui-slide: When you grind on one skate, in the outside edge that is in front of you. similar to a backside fast slide.
Switch-stance: Switching from a frontside to backside, or the other way around. aka unatural grind.
Tabernacle: The back foot is on a frontside and the front skate is on acid. aka Dumb
Topside grind: aka miszou. It is like a farside grind except you are on the frame.
Torque soul: When the front skate is in alley-oop in a regular soul grind.
Torque wheel: like a suislide except instead of grabbing your foot you put your wheel down like a training wheel.
Training wheel: The front skate is rolling on the wheel on the heel, and the back skate is on topside soul.
Transition: The section of a ramp that is horizontal that goes vertical.
Torque slide: aka suislide
Tweaking: Doing a trick while catching air and pulling your legs to the side.
Unity: aka LA grind. It is when you have your legs crossed (indian style) and you grind with both of your outside boots.
Unatural: Going the opposite direction of where you normally go.
Under-Vert: This ramp launches you out of the ramp.
Variation: A swith from differnt tricks to another, like royale to soul.
Vert: The big ‘U’ shaped ramp that can be in different sizes.
Vile: A sideways trick.
Wallride(ing): Skating accross the surface of a wall or vertical surface with one or two skates.
Waxing: When you rub wax on curbs and rails to make it easier to grind on.
Wheelbarrow: Like a backslide with the front skate rolling on the very back wheel.
Wheel: The round things that go under your skates to make you move. It is measured by the hardness and size, depending on what kind of skating you are into.
X-grind: It is like two soul skates on each side of a rail, kind of with your legs crossed a little. Kind of liek a royale