The Unofficial Glossary of Curling Terms and Their Inside Meanings

The 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, B.C. gives proof that Curling has finally managed an official renaissance. And such a statement says a lot when it's been an official sport in the Winter Olympics since 1998 after a 74-year absence. With all that comes an attempt by those new to the sport to give a deep perusal of the game's rules (see Resources at end) and trying to understand all the terms used in playing the game.

But no matter how much you might know about the game, Curling is still very much an inside sport. Not necessarily secret society level, though to the point where many of the sport's terms you may have already learned by heart have meanings beyond your understanding. Thanks to a secret source Curler from Oregon competing in the Winter Olympics, I was able to obtain a secret rule book that gives an A-Z list of what Curlers really mean when describing or exclaiming a particular move.

Anti-Freeze

Usually used to describe a stone that rests behind another stone to the point where it appears to be frozen to it, Curlers have secretly adopted a double meaning for decades. Whenever this rare phenomenon occurs, players take out bottles of real antifreeze and mix it with a shot of vodka. A collective "Yep!" gets uttered when the players have a full realization of what they've just poured down their esophagus.

The term is an alternative to Stacking the Brooms (see term listing below).

Back-house Weight

A term thought to describe the speed of the stone's delivery to the back side of the house. Instead, it's the pre-selection of the player weighing more than 250 pounds who's told to sit on the end of the sheet the entire game. This provides an unnoticeable 3-degree elevation of the sheet and a secret advantage for the stone to travel farther.

Biter

Here's a descriptive term describing a stone resting on the 12-foot ring. It's also the biting of one of the opponents in a random place when one of the opposite players feels like his or her team is losing. Biting of ear flesh is off limits.

Bite Stick

Once thought to be a measuring device to determine a 12-foot ring stone biter, it's more recently a beef jerky stick made to look like a giant broom. It's more often than not the entire collection of brooms.

Blanking an End

You may know this Curling move as a method of preventing all stones from being delivered to the end of the house to regain the advantage for next end of play. According to the rule book, it's really the simple act of male Curlers watching female Curlers play a game from the audience.

Chip and Lie

Not a stone hitting the edge of another stone to get in a better position for play. Players do secret maneuvers with the broom handles to knock teeth out of their opponents. Looking over your shoulder as if someone else did it: Optional.

"Die!"

Once considered the exclamation the skip yells for players to stop sweeping a stone. For insiders, it's a call to check who that person is passed out near the center bullseye or button after downing antifreeze with vodka (see Anti-Freeze above).

Extra Ends

Generally known as overtime, it's actually women being asked to play on a men's Curling team or vice versa.

Hack

A Hack is commonly known as the foothold for the player who delivers the stone on the sheet. But it's also a call for the sideline Curling I.T. professional to figure out who broke into the scoring computer to give the game advantage to the Latvians.

"Hard!"

Another exclamation used by the skip in telling players to sweep harder when a stone is sent off. While the insider rule book says investigations are still underway, word is some male Olympic Curlers have used the term in unknown male-dominated commercial endorsements.

Hog

Once known primarily as a stone shot that falls short of the far hog line and grounds for removal. More recent insider definition applies it to a Curler who took the last cheese & crackers from the venue vending machine and snorts while eating it.

Kizzle Kazzle

A term once thought to be an intentionally wobbled move of the stone to avoid unfavorable conditions on the sheet's ice. Based on the rule book, it's now uttered when Snoop Dogg is spotted attending a Curling game--however, only if willing to break off a piece of his Kit Kat bar to share with team players.

Promote

Typically, this term is a synonym for a Raise where a delivered stone bumps another stone forward on the sheet. It also means to promote a guard in the game. More recently, it's ongoing negotiations to put Curling on in Olympic network prime-time, for crying out loud!

The Roaring Game

For years, this was known as describing the sound of the stone while gliding across the sheet ice. Today, it's the official daydream of a standing-room-only "Miracle on Curling Ice" finale in the 2014 or 2018 Winter Olympics in place of the female figure skating long program.

Stacking the Brooms

The socializing with fellow Curlers after the game was usually called this before confusion ensued on what it really meant. Since 1998, it's actually a dance number of "Step in Time" with the brooms during unexpected lulls in the game. (Relation to Anti-Freeze above has now been confirmed as unofficial.)

"Up!"

Sometimes this exclamation gets uttered when the skip wants his sweepers to stop sweeping the ice during a stone delivery. Most other times, though, it's attaching helium balloons to the roof of the house so the Curling matches will last much longer than just two weeks.

"Wicky Wacky Woo!"

If you're a Curler and you utter this exclamation, it used to mean that a delivered stone hit two others out of the way and the delivered stone ended up in a perfect position for a bullseye. Now, it's merely uttered by every Curler when someone else says they don't get the appeal of Curling.

According to the rule book, the Chinese Curling team have officially adopted this term at the 2010 Winter Olympics, but with a meaning of "We'll bury you in this, too!"

Resources:

http://www.curlingbasics.com/

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/2710103/a_beginners_guide_to_the_winter_olympics.html?cat=14