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May 08, 2007, 19:50
wordcrafter
Words from Games
"Words from Games" is our theme this week. How about a short one, to honor last week's theme?

taw – a large choice or fancy marble, often streaked or variegated, being that with which the player shoots

Dickens and Clemens each use this word, speaking of an "alley" [alabaster] taw.
May 09, 2007, 00:24
Myth Jellies
Marble types that I remember from when I was a kid



Myth Jellies
Cerebroplegia--the cure is within our grasp
May 09, 2007, 00:34
jerry thomas
Yeah, Myth, we (boys in southeast Kansas) had marbles with most of those names, plus glassies and pottries (ceramic), and we called all of them "doogies" -- not marbles.
May 09, 2007, 20:26
wordcrafter
Yesterday, the game of marbles. Today, another game in which the object is to hit your opponent's sphere with your own.

roquet – in croquet, the act of hitting another player's ball with one's own
May 10, 2007, 16:15
wordcrafter
Yesterday, croquet. Today, another game of mallets striking balls.

chukka – each of the periods into which a game of polo is divided [Sanskrit, 'circle' or 'wheel']
[also, a kind of high shoe, resembling a polo boot]Bonus word:
conk
– to break down, give out, fail, or show signs of failing; to die, collapse, or lose
[first used of WWI airplanes. perhaps related to conk slang for "nose" (1812) [seen as like a conch shell?], whence conk "to punch in the nose", whence conk "to hit on the head"]
May 11, 2007, 02:15
Richard English
quote:
Yesterday, the game of marbles.

The village of Tinsley Green, not far from where I live, is the marbles centre of the world!

See here http://www.marblemuseum.org/tinsley/tinsleygreen.html


Richard English
May 11, 2007, 03:39
arnie
Conk

This is often used as a slang term for "nose", as in "I'll punch you on the conk". It is also often used in the phrase conk out, as in "the car conked out", which means "the car broke down".

Wodehouse's use as a transitive verb meaning "to hit on the nose/head" is rare now, although it may have been more frequent when he wrote the book.


Build a man a fire and he's warm for a day. Set a man on fire and he's warm for the rest of his life.
May 11, 2007, 09:16
zmježd
Conk as a noun also means the caustic methods of straightening kinky hair. There's a description of the process in The Autobiography of Malcolm X.


Ceci n'est pas un seing.
May 11, 2007, 17:13
wordcrafter
From the game of jai alai (Basque jai festival + alai merry)
pelota1. the game itself 2. the ball used
cesta – a scoop-shaped wicker basket, worn over the hand, used to catch and throw the ball
fronton – a building where pelota is played¹ Actually, that's a gross understatement. According to one web-source, "Slightly smaller than a baseball and livelier than a golf ball, the pelota … has been clocked in play at more than 185 miles per hour and can shatter bulletproof glass." Another: "Jai-alai is the world's fastest ball game. … compare: hockey slapshot [120 mph]; tennis serve [130 mph]; squash [120 mph]."
May 12, 2007, 16:02
wordcrafter
oche – the line behind which darts players stand when throwing
May 12, 2007, 19:36
Myth Jellies
Jai alai's pelota sounds similar to bocce ball's pallino. Also known as the jack, it is the little target ball that you try to get your balls closest to.

A cursory search indicates that both words come from words that mean "pellet".

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Myth Jellies,


Myth Jellies
Cerebroplegia--the cure is within our grasp
May 13, 2007, 14:51
wordcrafter
muleta – a short red cape, used by a matador to maneuver a bull during the final passes before a kill
May 14, 2007, 12:45
wordcrafter
I'm sure you're all familiar with the great sport of tiddlywinks?

squidger – the larger wink used to propel or flip a player's winks (verb: squidge – to so propel)
squop – to cover and immobilize (another's wink) with one's own