Another visit to the bowling terminology list brings some surprises

I’m always fascinated by words used by some but never heard of by others. I recall in my teaching days using a phrase during lunch to a couple of colleagues when their heads whipped around accusing me of some strange form of heresy. They couldn’t believe anyone had ever uttered those words before. A few weeks later, one of the teachers was reading to her class when the phrase appeared in her text. She made a beeline for my classroom to tell me the good news. Of course I had already known I wasn’t completely crazy, so I just smiled. My daughter is home for the holidays and recently ordered a soda at a restaurant before realizing she was no longer in Virginia. Apparently her colleagues have convinced her not to use the term pop anymore. A list of bowling terms came to my attention the other day. Some were common and some were foreign to me. We will see how many of these terms you are familiar with. If you know all of these, give yourself a – well – soft drink. If, on the other hand, you know none of these perhaps something a little bit stronger may be in order. Have you ever left a spare to shoot at with one pin directly behind another? This would be one of the following; the 2-8, the 3-9 or the not as common, 1-5. The term for this type of leave varies and I have heard of both sleeper and double wood. It is also known as bicycle, “oneinthedark”, barmaid, tandem or mother-in-law. Can’t say as I have heard of all of those! The bucket is another common leave for a bowler. That would be the 2-4-5-8, the 3-5-6-9 or the 1-2-3-5. I like to refer to the latter as the middle bucket though I have never seen that used anywhere else. What I didn’t know is that the term dinner bucket is also used for this leave. I guess I assumed the leave was more like a 5-gallon pail and thus bucket was born. It is possible I was wrong! Here are some other terms used to describe some more difficult spares that are all known as splits. Did you know for example, that the baby split (3-10 or 2-7) is also known as Murphy? The difficult 8-10 split is called Cincinnati, while the 3-6-10 is known as poison ivy. Most of you are aware that the 5-7-10 split is called the sour apple, but did you know that it also goes by Lilly? Finally, the term fit split is one where the ball can cover both pins. Many of you have bowled a Dutch 200 game. I’m guessing that nearly everyone knows that this is a game where the bowler alternates strikes with spares for 10 frames. What I didn’t know was that the term sandwich game is another phrase to refer to the Dutch 200. The term grasshopper showed up on my list. I decided that it had nothing to do with the insect or the drink. It was defined as an effective hit, particularly involving light pocket hits. Now when I throw a ball that barely reaches the head pin I have another word I can shout instead of “shake em.” You can bet I will say it like the martial arts instructor! A crawler is a strike produced by missing the head pin. The last three pins to fall will be the 4-2-1 or 6-3-1, in that order. Yes, the term back door comes to mind. This strike is really cool when the bowler is the fourth bowler on the team to strike that frame – unless you are the one that gets hung! Are you familiar with the tickler? That is when the 6 pin gently topples the 10 pin from the channel on a strike. The 6 pin is the tickler. Have you ever heard of the term poodle for a gutter ball? Some sources say it is a variation of puddle. I think it comes from “Poodles” Nelson who set a record of 89 gutter balls in one season in 1895. Whatever the origin, you really don’t want to throw your first ball of a frame into the gutter, channel, moat or whatever term you wish to use. The most disturbing term I ran across was the cracked thumb. Are you ready for the definition? “Actual cracks that appear on the calluses of a bowler’s thumb.” Seriously, wouldn’t this be more familiar to a carpenter. For that matter, why wouldn’t bowlers use the term “carpenter’s” thumb? With that, I will leave you to start making up your own bowling terms! There are not many scores to report this week as leagues are taking time off to celebrate the holidays. Perhaps that is a good thing, as some bowlers may need the time to allow their cracked thumbs to heal! Al Stephenson is The A-T bowling columnist. Read his blog at: www.advertiser-tribune.com