L.A. SPEAK

Year-round beach banter from Southern California lifeguards:

blitz: n . a large-scale emergency rescue, such as two or more people caught in a riptide. A call to arms will go out from one guard to another: “Blitz! Tower 13!”

can: n . the red plastic air-filled buoy a guard takes into the water during a rescue to help float the victim, derived from the days when the buoys were made of welded aluminum. “Relax and hang onto the can .”

cannonball day: n . when the weather is so dismal and beachgoers so few, you could shoot a cannonball down the beach and not hit anyone. “It’s practically hailing out there! It’s a cannonball day for sure.”

meatball flag: n . yellow flag with a black circle that indicates when surfing is prohibited. Also: blackball flag.

palm-tree day: n . a perfect, quintessentially California day. “We’ve had four palm-tree day s in a row!”

sponge rider: n . a boogie-board rider. From the board’s spongy material.

sun spot: n . a blind spot in the water caused by glare from the sun. “Watch those swimmers; they’re in my sun spot .”

wallbenders: n . elderly beach folk who spend their days sitting against the beach wall. “The wallbenders are out in force today.”