Tag Archives: Sports

The Jargon of Hockey

Background:

The informant is a 25-year-old who grew up playing hockey his entire life. He began playing hockey when he was only three years old and played until age 24. We were teammates for two years in the BCHL, a junior hockey league in British Columbia, Canada. The informant has used jargon from the hockey community for most of his life.

Context:

The Folklore was collected through a scheduled zoom meeting with the informant where we discussed memories of playing hockey together, and common jargon used by the hockey community. He learned most of it through other hockey players. There is not really an origin point that can be located for any of the specific parole, but it is all widely circulated and known jargon. I experienced and partook in some of this jargon as well throughout my 19 years of playing hockey, and we discussed some very strange, almost humorous jargon that somehow was universally known and used among the hockey community.

Main Piece:

‘Huge Tilt’: A major fight in a hockey game. “Mike and Kleysen had a huge tilt last night”

‘Chirp’: To trash talk another player. “Mike has been chirping me all game”

‘Dangle’: To deke or outmaneuver another player. “Did you see me dangle that defenseman?”

‘Muffin’: A shot on goal that was very poor or weak. “Mike was throwing muffins on the net all night”

‘Lettuce’: Nice hair of another player. “Mike has the best lettuce on the team”

‘Gong show’: A game that gets out of control from big hits. “Our game against Penticton last week was a gong show”

‘Grocery Stick’: A player that doesn’t get much playing time. “Mike chirps way to much for a grocery stick”

‘Apple’: An Assist. “Mike had an unreal apple last period”

‘Bingo’: A goal. “Mike had three bingos last night”

‘Biscuit’: The puck. “Hey Mike, you got to get me the biscuit more often in the offensive zone”

‘Cheese’: Scoring in the top portion of the hockey net. “Mike went cheese on their goalie”

‘Barnburner’: A high-scoring game. “We had a barnburner last week… everybody was putting up points”

Interpretation:

The Jargon of hockey players is something that many people find humorous. Some comedy tv shows such as “Letterkenny” have even been created making fun of the parole used. Personally, I did not find any of this language funny when I played hockey growing up. It was just the way we communicated with each other. However, being a few years removed from the sport, it seems almost ridiculous that the informant and I spoke this way for most of our lives. What is very interesting to me is that this specific parole is widely known and used among the hockey community, and almost all the jargon is comprised of real English words, yet none of them mean their literal English definitions. If someone were to use this jargon with anyone outside of the hockey community, they would not understand what you are saying and most likely view it as very abnormal speech. Although within the hockey community, nobody would bat an eye at the obscure phrasing of these words and perfectly understand what you are communicating to them. Many of the words are typically used together as tropes among the hockey community, and these tropes would surely confuse a person unfamiliar with this hockey jargon.

For another version, see Jacob Tierney, February 7, 2016, “Letterkenny”.

The Curse of the Billy Goat

Folklore/ Text:

TM: “You can’t be a Cubs fan without knowing the lore surrounding the curse of the billy goat. During the world series in 1945, the owner of the Billy Goat Tavern (William Sianis) brought his pet goat, Murphy, to the game. The goat was messing with some fans in the stands, so Sianis and the goat were asked to leave the stadium. But before they left, he declared a curse upon the Chicago Cubs to never ‘win no more…’ The Cubs lost the game that day and never won another World Series again until 2016. It took 71 years for them to win, all because of the curse of the billy goat.”   

Explanation/ Context: This is an interesting piece of sports folklore, and gives Cubs fans everywhere an explanation as to why they hadn’t won the baseball World Series for such a long time. It’s lore that has been passed on since that unfortunate day in 1945– it certainly helps justify the team’s lack of performance in their games.

Annotation: The unfortunate story of the Curse of the Billy Goat has been adapted to authored literature, like The Cubs Win the Pennant!: Charlie Grimm, the Billy Goat Curse, and the 1945 World Series Run by John C. Skipper. The novel recounts the curse and its effects on the Cubs team over time.

Flex: A Basketball Gesture

AW is a 19 year old college student. She is a freshman computer science major and loves basketball. She played as a child and closely follows professional basketball today.

Context: This is performed during a basketball game, both amateur and professional. This was collected over dinner at the collectors home.

Transcript:

Collector: What does it mean when a player flexes?

AW: It comes from when a player scores an AND1, which is pretty much when the player scores despite really tough defense and being fouled. When a player scores a bucket on an AND1 they flex their arms as a boast of how good they are. Boast and just to say, “Yeah, I’m the shit”. When they flex, their teammates and even fans flex too.

Collector: Is that something you participate in yourself?

AW: Definitely when I’m watching a game. It’s fun and it might sound corny but you feel connected to the players and other fans. That’s my favorite part, I think.

Flex gesture

Analysis: Sports play a significant role in American culture. There is jargon between all sports but gestures are something that remains unofficial but still largely shared. This gesture specifically is shared between the performer and the people around them. The knowledge of this, like with other gestures, is social and serves the same function as jargon and sayings.

Pregame Prayer

Context: La Salle Academy is the school in question and is a catholic high school located in Providence Rhode Island. The subject played football in high school. 

Text:

“Pregame rituals were a big tradition. We had what is called a grotto outside, which is a statue of Mary with candles lit. For a hundred plus years, it was a tradition to go out, as a football team, with the captains leading these pregame prayers in front of the statue of Mary at the grotto. Captains would do it, and some select seniors would speak. It was a hundred plus year tration” 

Analysis:

This piece of folklore is one of countless examples of sports traditions and superstitions. What’s interesting about this particular case, however, is its inclusion of a religious element with the statue of Mary. Introducing this religious tilt into what otherwise is just another pregame ritual recontextualizes what sports truly means in this context. Clearly in this setting sports has exceeded its status as merely just a game. The value’s it imparts on those participating, such as a good work ethic and leadership, have clearly warranted sports being perceived as vital in this community, thus validating its cross over with religion in this context.   

Crazy Towel Guy

Context: The subject of the interview is an older man who has been a fan of Duke basketball and in attendance for most of their games for the last 30 years. Additionally, the subject worked at the university. 

Text:

“Crazy towel guy is an older gentleman in his 70s who happens to have been a fan of Duke basketball for the last 50 years. And he would come to games, never ever would miss a basketball game. And everytime he would come, he would have the same seat and in the middle of the game when it looked like Duke wasn’t playing as well as they should or they were a little tired, he would grab his towel he had on his shoulder and stand up and waving the towel. What that meant to the students at Duke in the stadium, everybody would see this and start going crazy. They would raise the emotional level in that stadium from like below zero to over a hundred”. 

Analysis:

This piece of folklore is indicative of all the folklore existing within an athletic environment. Additionally, this piece of folklore goes under the category school specific folklore, the urban legends that can develop in and stay specifically within that one environment.