French Pétanque Terminology
collected by J.L.Widen and modified by D. Feaster and N. Walter
BASIC TERMS
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(la) Pétanque
From pieds tanqués which means “feet tied together” from the Provençal ped tanco (le) Rond The throwing circle, traced on the ground (une) Mène An end, the part of a complete game played from each new throwing circle; a match is made up of as many ends as necessary to arrive at thirteen points Pointer “To Point,” to roll or lob a boule, the object being to stop its movement near to the cochonnet (un) Pointeur The pointer, a player who specializes in pointing or placing his boules as close as possible to the cochonnet (un) Milieu The middle, an all rounder in a team who can point or shoot equally well (l’) Arbitre The umpire (le) Couloir The shape formed by a group of spectators standing round a game in progress; the word literally means corridor Tête-à-Tête: One player playing against another; a singles game, 3 boules per player Doublette Game composed of 2 players per team, with 3 boules per player Triplette Game composed of 3 players per team, with 2 boules per player Quadrette Game composed of 4 players per team with 2 boules per player; not official per FPUSA (le) But The target ball made from wood, smaller than a boule, it is thrown first; it will be necessary to get close to it with your boules; other terms: bouchon, cochonnet, gari, le petit (le) Cochonnet The target ball; the word literally means piglet (le) Gari Another name for the cochon (le) Kiki Another name for the cochon (le) Pichoun Another name for the cochon (le) Petit Another name for the cochon; sometimes also called le petit ministre—the little minister Faire Fanny “To Fanny,” to win a match with the score of 13-0; some competitions award a consolation prize to the first team to be fannied |
Bon Homme
A compliment given to a particularly good player (un) Bras d’or Literally a golden arm; a compliment given to a good thrower (les) Boules cloutées The old kind of boules which were made by hammering large-headed nails into boxwood cores (le) (les) Striage, Stries The rings, stripes or design cut into the surface of boules to make them grip the ground better (les) Boules Lisses Boules that have no rings or stripes cut into their surface; many shooters favor this kind of perfectly smooth boule for an easy release (les) Boules Quadrillées Boules that have a large number of stripes or rings cut into their surface;often favored by pointers, they are nicknamed pineapples (les) Boules Farcies Boules that have been tampered with by the injection of either mercury, sand, or heavy oil, which moves their weight off center and makes them more accurate when pointing; fortunately they are very rare—and, of course, illegal (un) Porte-Boules A carrier for a set of boules (un) Gratton A stone or bump on the piste which deflects an otherwise well thrown or rolled boule Boulodrome An indoor place for playing pétanque; composed of 4, 8 or more courts (le) Terrain The piste, the playing area (les) Lignes Tracées Pistes which are marked out with lines—often of string (la) Piste That part of the whole terrain on which the game is to be played (la) Graphique The desk used by the organizers during a competition (les) Kiply A measuring tape device, which also sometimes has a built in score recorder Pile (ou face) The French for heads (or tails); the person tossing the coin often calls either “pile” or “face” himself before throwing it in the air and catching it on the back of his hand; sometimes, if he is being particularly polite, he will give the other side the call and sometimes he will let the coin fall to the ground; however, the important point is that the French do not usually wait until the coin is in the air for a call |
GAME PLAY TERMS
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(la) Consolante
The Consolation Competition organized for those that do not qualify for the final rounds of the Main Competition, the Concours; entry into this secondary competition is often automatic and there is sometimes also a Wooden Spoon Competition for those that do not qualify for or are eliminated from the Consolante; the elimination games for the Main Competition are usually played in pools, but the final rounds of the Main, Consolante, or Wooden Spoon Competitions are normally played on a knockout basis (la) Mêlée A competition where teams are chosen by drawing lots (le) Tirage au sort French for drawing lots and it may, therefore, be heard during a competition with the sense of “making the draw,” i.e. to decide which teams are to play each other Marquer When it is necessary to pick a boule or cochon up during the progress of a game, it is usual to mark its exact position by tapping it into the ground with another boule and then drawing 2 or 3 radii from this central mark Avoir l’avantage “To have the advantage” is to find yourself with more boules better placed compared to your adversary Avoir le point “To have the point” is to have a ball better placed with respect to the cochon than that of your adversary Reprendre le point “To regain the point” occurs when your adversary had the point, but you manage to regain it with the following throw Defendre le point “Defend the point” is to defend a well-placed boule while hitting the adversary’s boule which is better placed Holding A team is said to be holding for as long as their boule is closest to the cochonnet Push the Boule To move or push a boule, which is located in front of the cochon, either on purpose or accidentally with another boule Jouer pour la gagne “To play for the win” occurs when you have in hand the boules needed to arrive at thirteen and to win the match (la) Poussette La poussettte occurs when the cochon or boule is pushed forward or when an opponent’s boule is used to bounce your own off towards the cochon; la poussette is literal French for “the push chair,” a rickshaw (le) Pousse-Pousse Either when the cochon or boule is pushed forward or when an opponent’s boule is used to bounce your own off towards the cochon le pousse-pousse is the French for ”the rickshaw” Ajouter “To add”—your adversary does not have any more boules to play; any boules that remain are yours (or your team’s) and will hopefully be played to enlarge your score |
(la) Revanche
The revenge, a return or second match in a series of three (la) Belle The final and deciding game of three; the second is la ravanche, the revenge (la) Musique Deliberate distracting behavior during the playing of a game, expressly forbidden by Article 16 of the Rules Passet (faire le) To step out of the throwing circle too early Sautée (tirer à la) To shoot at the boule or the cochon which is behind an obstacle Tour de main (Turn of the hand)—the effect given by the turn of the wrist by the shooter or pointer during the throw of the boule Serrer (une boule) To impart back-spin to a boule Tanquer (sa boule) To throw a boule very high and, at the same time, to spin it Tourner (une boule) To spin a boule so that on landing it moves either to the right or the left Partir When a thrown boule, rolls too far and fails make the point Appui A boule thrown a little too strong, but stopped by another boule Bec A boule’s path changed in direction by hitting another boule Serrer (le jeu) To point with no hope of scoring but with the intention of hampering the other side so that their score is kept as low as possible; a defensive move Tâter la donnée Before a throw, to drop a boule on to the intended landing spot in order to get some idea as to how it will behave when thrown there (un) Tétard A tadpole, the same as biberon, which is when a particularly good pointing boule comes to rest actually touching the cochon Téter To succeed in making a biberon or tétard i.e. pointing a boule right up against the cochon Tourner When members of a team change their role, e.g. from tireur to pointeur, in the middle of a game; these folks are called a milieu—an all-rounder or middle (le) Cadrage The method of eliminating some teams/players so the main competition can be run with the more manageable numbers of 16, 32, 64, etc. |
BOULE PLACEMENT TERMS
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(une) Donnée
The landing spot—the ideal place where you intend your boule to land, before it rolls Placer The action of pointing a boule in the direction of the cochon so it stops as close to it as possible Boule derrière Boule placed behind the cochonnet; in general, it isn’t a very good placement because other players can point to it Boule devant The French saying Boule devant, c’est boule d’argent, a boule in front is a boule of silver, means that you should always try to keep pointing boules in front of the cochon, as here they will always have additional value as obstacles; when the other side tries to get near the cochon, they are in danger of knocking these blocking boules even closer to the cochon Se melanger “To mix” is to point your boules so as to touch those of the adversary, in front, behind or on the sides (le) Pointage The attempt to place a boule as close as possible to the cochon Serrer le jeu “To tighten the play” means that the few boules which remain are played as defensive boules to limit point losses or gains to the other team |
(un) Biberon
When a thrown boule is touching the cochonnet it is a biberon, a baby bottle; you’ve just made a bibe or a tétard Embouchonner To put a boule up against the cochon, to make a biberon, baby’s bottle Gendarme French for “policeman”—when one boule is located right next to an opponent’s boule, which is next to the cochon, thus giving the appearance that it is watching the boule like a “cop” (un) Contre “Against”—your shooting boule ends up against the cochon or another boule (les) Boules collées Boules that are side by side and touching (le) Devant-de-boule When a boule finishes up in front of and touching an opponent’s boule; this is a particularly effective placement as the opponent risks moving his or her own boule in an attempt to remove it Se planter When a boule hits the ground very heavily after a high throw and so digs itself well in |
POINTING TERMS
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(la) Roulette
A way of pointing, only possible on a smooth surface, in which the boule is rolled nearly all the way from the playing circle to the cochon Bonne maman A way of rolling the boule on a very smooth surface in which the player bends forward from the waist and releases the boule near the feet Rouler To point a ball so that it rolls the total distance between the circle and the cochon (la) Demi-portée A half-lob is to point a boule so that it falls halfway between the circle and the cochon, and then rolls towards the cochon Portée To point a boule so that it falls into the last third of the distance between the circle and the cochon; the boule will roll very little if done correctly |
(la) Plombée
A high lob is to point a boule so that it falls close to the cochon; the forward momentum of the boule is deadened by its fall, immobilizing it at once or almost at once; used on rougher ground (la) Portée The more usual name for the pointer’s high, backspun lob which is also called la plombée (Faire un) Nari To do very bad pointing (le) Rétro The back-spin which is imparted to a pointing boule by swinging the wrist forward during the throwing action (la) Roulette-dirigée A pointing throw in which the boule is delivered from a semi-crouching position, and guided/rolled nearly all of the way to the cochon Visser (la boule) To point a boule very low and with spin |
SHOOTING TERMS
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(un) Tireur
A player who is better at shooting than pointing (un) Tir A shot aimed at hitting an opponent’s boule and, in doing so, removing it (le) Tirage Shooting or trying to knock one boule out of the way with another Tirer “To Shoot” is to strike an opponent’s boule with the goal of removing it from play or to reduce it as a threat Tirer a la rafle “To shoot at the edge” means the boule arrives at the edge of the piste, but does not touch it, i.e. it is still live Tirer au fer “To shoot on iron” means that the boule is launched in the air, does not touch the ground, but comes to land directly upon the opponent’s boule (un) Carreau When shooting, the boule scores a perfect direct hit on the target boule and, in doing so, not only knocks it away, but takes its exact position; the origin of the term is thought to have come from the fighting expression rester carreau—to remain on the spot, to be laid out cold; le carreau means the floor, usually only applied to one that is either tiled or paved Reussir un carreau The perform the perfect shot—your boule, by shooting, struck the opponent’s boule, and drove it out and took its place exactly Palet (faire un) To hit one of the opponent’s boules and then stay close to it; to make a carreau (un) Palet courant A poor carreau which, having hit its target, rolls on too much (un) Palet roulant To hit a target boule by throwing short and rolling onto it Reussir un palet The almost perfect shot (see above) except that the shooting boule moved away a little after the impact, between 0 and 50 centimeters behind Pointer en tirant “To point while shooting” is to make a carreau and get the point at the same time |
Un retro
The opposite of the palet because the shot boule moves towards you after the impact Faire une sautée “To do a jump,” a delicate shot because the boule to be dislodged is behind another boule Noyer (le but) To shoot at the cochon and, by removing it from the defined piste, nullify the end (la) Raspaillette The more usual name for the kind of shooting throw which lands about two or three meters from the target boule and then hits it by rolling forward; although the French often disapprove of the shot, it can be most effective—especially on a smooth piste; see also raclette and rafle (la) Raclette Another name for la raspaillette, a rolling kind of shot which, instead of hitting the target boule directly from the air, is thrown and lands a short distance from it and then knocks it out of the way—French purists frown on this kind of shooting, but players from other countries—notably the Belgians and English—use it to great effect on occasion (un) Rafle Much the same as la raclette and la raspaillette except that it is kept much shorter, lower, and sometimes spun Tirer a cinquante devant “To shoot to the front fifty” means to insure a shot, the shooter throws the boule so it lands and rolls for 50cm before running up against the boule intended to be hit (la) Casquette When a shooting boule bounces off the top of the target boule without moving it at all; the word literally means a cap Faire une casquette “To make a cap” the shooting boule almost hits the aimed for boule, but only touches it lightly, not moving it Chiquer (une boule) When a shooter just tips the target boule and hardly moves it at all Faire un trou “To make a hole” is to shoot and miss the boule(s), i.e. to not succeed in your objective |
