Bowling Terms

AIM
All bowlers aim, or should, and it is so understood. If a bowler gets a few lucky strikes, he is usually urged to "start aiming."

ALLEY BALL
A ball which, when delivered, follows the natural track of an alley. It is a neutral ball and is not turned. This also means balls owned by a bowling establishment.

ANCHOR
The last man in the lineup of a team.

BABY SPLIT
The 2-7 or 3-10 railroad.

BARMAID
A hidden pin.

BED POSTS
The 7-10 railroad.

BIG FOUR
The 4-6-7-10 railroad. Universal.

BROOKLYN
Ball striking to the left of the headpin. In Brooklyn and New York it is called a Jersey.

BROOM BALL
Some as a sweeper.

CHEESE CAKES
Alleys which score high or where strikes are easy to get.

CHERRY
Chopping off the front pin of a spare and leaving the pin behind and/or to the right or left standing. It is an error or blow or miss.

CHRISTMAS TREE
The 3-7-10 for a right-hander or the 2-7-10 for a left-hander.

COUNT
The number of pins knocked down on your first ball to be used on the previous frame for computing your spare score.

CREEPER
A slow ball.

DEAD BALL
An ineffective ball. Pumpkin or sour apple.

DIVE
An alley on which your ball takes a last second big hook or dive to the left. Dirty alleys usually cause this.

DUTCH 200
A game of 200 on the head made by alternate strikes and spares.

FILL
Eastern bowlers use this word to mean "count," or the number of pins knocked down following a spare.

FISH
A bowler who cant bowl for money yet who is always looking for a pot game.

FOUL
Touching or going beyond the foul line as you deliver the ball.

FOUNDATION
A strike in the ninth frame.

FRAME
The tenth part of a game. The squares indicating the tenth part of a game are called frames or boxes.

FULL HIT
When the ball strikes near the center of the headpin or any pin at which you may be shooting.

GETTING THE WOOD
Knocking down a good score; forestry ;woodpile; lumber; timber.

GRAVE YARDS
Tough alleys. Usually the toughest pair in an establishment.

HOLDING ALLEY
An alley which resists hook action.

HOLE
The 1-3 pocket.

HOME ALLEY
Several meanings. If a bowler gets several strikes on one alley and not on the other, he speaks of the former as his "home alley." Teams which favor one pair in a house call them their "home alleys." Also refers to the establishment where a traveling club rolls its "home" games.

HOOK ALLEY
An alley on which the ball is inclined to run to the left.

IN THERE
Ball was a good pocket hit.

KICK BACK
The high division boards between alleys at the pit end.

KINDLING WOOD
Light pins.

KITTY
The money collected by team captain from members for errors, splits, and other prearranged fines; same to be divided equally or to be used to defray expenses to tournaments, banquets, shows, etc.

LEAD OFF
The first man in a team's lineup.

LIFT
Giving your ball an upward motion with your fingers at point of release.

LIGHTS OUT
When the anchor man blows spare in tenth when it would have won game; same as "curtains."

LILY
The impossible 5-7-10 railroad.

LOFTING
Throwing the ball out on the alley beyond the foul line.

MAKE IT FIT
Trying to make the 4-5 or 9-10 or such railroads (those where both sides of your ball have to hit pins).

MAPLES
Synonym for the pins.

MOTHER-IN-LAW
The 7-pin. Evoluted from old Western game of "five-back" or "Kankakee," in which you did not count pins knocked down unless you made the 7-pin.

MOVE AROUND
The bowler who plays alleys by changing his starting position in order to accommodate his ball on various alleys is said to move around.

NOSE HIT
A hit full on the headpin.

ONE IN THE DARK
The rear pin in the 1-5, 2-8, or 3-9 combinations.

OUT AND IN
Refers to a wide hook on a running alley where the bowler sets his ball in the center and aims it out toward the gutter. The hook comes back to the headpin, hence the "out and in."

OUTSIDE
Refers to method of playing certain alleys and means playing more or less toward the corner positions as compared to the center of the runway.

PART OF THE BUILDING
Bowlers' expression when the 7 or 10 stands on a good hit.

PITCH
The angle at which hole is bored.

POCKET
The 1-3 spot for the right-hander; the 1-2 for left-hander.

POT GAME
An open bowling contest in which two or more bowlers set a stake and the high scorer takes all. Sometimes a second place award is determined on. A general term for all stake games including "city club" and "high-low."

POWERHOUSE
A strike ball which rips and tears the pins; a splasher.

PUFF BALL
A slow ball which fails to carry.

RETURN
The track upon which balls are rolled from pit to ball rack.

RUNNING ALLEY
An alley which takes a hook. Opposite of holding alley.

RUNWAY
The approach or platform on which the bowler stands and delivers his ball.

SCHLEIFER
A thin hit, similar to the spiller type. Comes from the German word meaning to cut thin or slice. Usually applied to a thin Brooklyn hit where the pins seem to melt away.

SLOT ALLEY
An alley where strikes are easy to get.

SOUR BALL
A poor ball; one that fades; one that leaves a 5-7 or 8-10.

SPARE
When you knock down all the pins with two balls in any frame.

STEAL
To get more pins than you hit for, or than you deserved on hits.

STRIKE
When you knock down all the pins with your first ball in any frame.

STRIKING OUT
Striking to the finish of the game.