Candlepin Bowling - Jargon

Jargon

Candlepin bowling uses its own colorful jargon to refer to the many scenarios that can arise in a game, with most of the terms denoting different combinations of pins left standing after the first ball has been rolled. Examples of these terms include:

• Head pin: The 1-pin, which is in front of the other pins.

• King pin: The 5-pin, which is in the center of the pins.
• Deadwood or wood: The fallen pins lying between the standing pins, often strategically used to knock down multiple standing pins which are far apart.
• Four Horsemen: Four pins in a diagonal line, from the head-pin outward; if the 1-2-4-7, it is known as "Four horsemen, left side," and if the 1-3-6-10, it is known as "Four horsemen, right side." The usual tenpin term for a spare leave of this kind is a "picket fence" or "clothesline".
• Spread Eagle: A split configuration consisting of the 2-3-4-6-7-10, caused by the first shot striking the head pin too directly, leading to a failure to scatter the pins. Video of the "spread eagle" being left, then converted
• Diamond: Four pins that form a diamond-shaped configuration, either the 2-4-5-8, known as "left-side diamond," the 3-5-6-9, known as "right-side diamond", or the 1-2-3-5, known as the "center diamond" (this same configuration is usually referred to as a "bucket" in standard ten-pin bowling, and while it is very difficult to convert into a spare in candlepin bowling, in ten-pin bowling a spare is usually made from it by an experienced bowler).
• Half Worcester: Perhaps the most distinctive term used in the game. This results when the first shot strikes either the 2-pin or 3-pin too directly, and knocks down (or punches out) only that pin and the one immediately behind it; when only the 2- and 8-pins fall it is a "Half Worcester Left," and when only the 3- and 9-pins fall it is a "Half Worcester Right" (less commonly only the 1- and 5-pins may be knocked down with the first ball, producing a "Half Worcester Center"). According to legend, the term was coined when a team from Worcester and a team from Boston were competing in the semifinal round of a statewide tournament held sometime in the 1940s; late in the last match of the round, one of the bowlers on the Worcester team knocked down only two such pins with his first ball, prompting a member of the Boston team to taunt him by saying, "You're halfway back to Worcester!" It is sometimes said that a player will get "one a game" referring to the Half Worcester.
• Full Worcester: Knocking down 2-3-8-9, or two Half Worcesters.
• Quarter Worcester: Another term derived from the Half Worcester, knocking down half as many pins—either just the 4-pin or just the 6-pin.
• Picket Fence: Rare shot leaving the whole back row standing—7-8-9-10.
• Hi-Low-Jack: This term refers to the 1-, 7-, and 10-pins, which are on the three corners of the triangle. Trying to knock down all three in one shot (with no wood) is sometimes a contest as part of a televised candlepin bowling program.
• 7-10 split: when after the ball is thrown, only the 7 and 10 pins remain standing on the lane. If there is no wood, it is the hardest two-pin combination to completely knock down on one ball. The tenpin term for this most dreaded of spare leaves is usually "bedposts" or "goal posts".
• Backdoor Strike: A strike in which the 1-pin is the last to fall.
• Goll Roll: Sound of the ball rolling down the lane.
• Glung Glung Glung: Sound of the pins falling (mainly a strike or 9 pin drop).
• Triple: A three-game series. When spoken, it follows a rough total of the series, such as "500-triple," meaning the bowler rolled 500 or more for three games.