For the Players out there . . .


Tiddlywinks terminology

Many of the shots from tiddlywinks have unusual names, some of which have become dictionary entries. Here is a selection.

Blitz: an attempt to pot all six winks of your own colour early in the game

Bomb: to send a wink at a pile, usually from distance, in the hope of significantly disturbing it

Boondock: to free a squopped wink by sending it a long way away, leaving the squopping wink free in the battle area

Bristol: a shot which moves a pile of two or more winks as a single unit; the shot is played by holding the squidger at right angles to its normal plane

Carnovsky(US)/Penhaligon(UK): potting a wink from the baseline (i.e. from 3 feet away)

Cracker: a simultaneous knock-off and squop, i.e. a shot which knocks one wink off the top of another while simultaneously squopping it

Crud: a forceful shot whose purpose is to destroy a pile completely

Good shot: named after John Good. The shot consists of playing a flat wink through a nearby pile in the hope of destroying it

Gromp: an attempt to jump a pile onto another wink (usually with the squidger held in a conventional rather than Bristol fashion)

John Lennon memorial shot: a simultaneous boondock and squop

Lunch: to pot a squopped wink (usually belonging to an opponent)

Scrunge: to bounce out of the pot

Squop: to play a wink so that it comes to rest above another wink

Sub: to play a wink so that it ends up under another wink


I want to hear these terms when you're playing.