Sports Terms: What to say when you play . . .

These terms are useful to know. They also correspond to a match game that appears in The 2011 Old Farmer’s Almanac on page 223.

1. Balk: in baseball, an illegal movement by a pitcher
2. Bonk: in snowboarding, to bounce off an object such as a rock, tree, or stump
3. Carom: in hockey, a rebound of the puck off the boards or any other object
4. Catch a crab: in rowing, to stroke an oar and miss the water or dig too deeply
5. Cradling: in lacrosse, a technique for keeping the ball in the stick’s pocket
6. Dink: in tennis, a soft return that causes the ball to drop after crossing the net
7. Gimme: in golf, a putt (usually very short) conceded by an opponent, meaning that it does not have to be putted (There are no gimmes in professional golf or most club competitions.)
8. Grind: in skateboarding, to slide along the edge or top of an object
9. Hog: in curling, a stone that fails to reach the score line
10. Jerk: in weightlifting, to push a weight from shoulder height to a position overhead
11. Kiss: in billiards, a slight touch of a ball against another ball
12. Lollipop: in volleyball, a gentle serve; make too many lollipops and you get licked
13. Maul: in rugby, when players from both sides encircle the player who has possession of the ball
14. Red zone: in football, the imaginary area between the defense’s 20-yard and goal lines
15. Riposte: in fencing, a fencer’s quick return thrust following an opponent’s attack
16. Schuss: in skiing, to ski downhill fast and straight, often in a full-tuck position
17. Slash: in surfing, a quick turn off the top of a wave
18. Sling: also called a “carry”; in badminton, when the shuttlecock is caught by the racket and briefly held before executing the stroke
19. Stutz: in gymnastics, a common swing used on the parallel bars where the gymnast starts from a handstand atop the bars and swings backward between the bars, executing a half-turn along the way and returning to the handstand position to face the opposite way
20. Sur place: also called a “trackstand”; in bicycling, the technique of balancing in place, motionless on a bike
21. Tip-off: in basketball, the jump ball that starts a game
22. Touch out: in swimming, to reach the touch pad first and win a race
23. Trap: in soccer, to use your chest, thighs, or feet to slow down and control a moving ball
24. Turkey: in bowling, three strikes in a row