It’s a Billiard not a Carom!!!

[JazzyJeff87]

I’ve been learning Spanish the past year or so and it dawned on me how bizarre and cool language is. The meat and potatoes of it all is what we do with our faces and the rest of our body. Grammar, the alphabet, dictionaries..all that is just an attempt to capture what we do and put it down on paper but so much is lost there. It’s kind of like and music and music theory.

Small inflections, looks, the speed and timing of how you say something, posture etc can dramatically change the meaning. Any word or sound can mean anything at all as long as you and whoever you’re talking to understands what you mean. How well do words actually describe the complex emotions and ideas that are in our heads? A trippy thought.

I think we all know what someone means when they call a carom a billiard so tell yourself that technically they are correct. We make our own language and answer to no one but Father Time.

 

[Straightpool_99]

It seems that every couple of months or so, someone comes on this website p##ed off about the words people use to describe the game. Classics are people being angry about using "race to.." in straight pool, "deflection" referring to cue ball deflection and cue stick deflection, what is a "nit" and now this. Seriously, this is what makes you angry in this world? If someone calls a kiss shot a carom or a billiards shot a carom, they are technically right. They're both shots where one ball is "caromed" off another.

Are we really going down the path where someone in a group coins a phrase and everyone in the group gets angry when nobody else uses it? It wouldn't be the first time on this forum.

 

[pt109]

It seems that every couple of months or so, someone comes on this website p##ed off about the words people use to describe the game. Classics are people being angry about using "race to.." in straight pool, "deflection" referring to cue ball deflection and cue stick deflection, what is a "nit" and now this. Seriously, this is what makes you angry in this world? If someone calls a kiss shot a carom or a billiards shot a carom, they are technically right. They're both shots where one ball is "caromed" off another.

Are we really going down the path where someone in a group coins a phrase and everyone in the group gets angry when nobody else uses it? It wouldn't be the first time on this forum.

How would you like an architect to be careless about details...”Hey, that’s the way I like to express it.”
Do you really want to cross a bridge or enter a building that he designed?

 

[Straightpool_99]

How would you like an architect to be careless about details...”Hey, that’s the way I like to express it.”
Do you really want to cross a bridge or enter a building that he designed?

If the building is structurally sound, who cares what he calls the crossbeams? Likewise, if I make a legal carom shot, who cares if I call it a billiard or a carom? This isn't math, engineering or even brain surgery. It's a game, with well defined rules. Neither of the points I mentioned are in any way structurally integral to the game as such. So, if a person says I made such and such a shot, or I have stick that has high/low deflection, who cares, as long as one can ask and clarify what the person meant. And really, if a person says a race to 100 in straight pool, is there a player alive that is in any way unclear about what is meant by that? Is it that psychologically scarring to you? If it's that important to you to impress whatever person on the forum you want to impress with your superior knowledge of pool and billiards terms, I guess that is your perogative. I just dont' think such putdowns of every newcomer to the forum is really productive, but then again, our goals and ambitions may be different in that regard.

 

[HawaiianEye]

When I worked in a pool hall as a kid, it was common for people to say "11 out of 21" rather than "race to 11".

 

[The_JV]

When I worked in a pool hall as a kid, it was common for people to say "11 out of 21" rather than "race to 11".

This was coined as "best out of 21" in my day

 

[pt109]

If the building is structurally sound, who cares what he calls the crossbeams? Likewise, if I make a legal carom shot, who cares if I call it a billiard or a carom? This isn't math, engineering or even brain surgery. It's a game, with well defined rules. Neither of the points I mentioned are in any way structurally integral to the game as such. So, if a person says I made such and such a shot, or I have stick that has high/low deflection, who cares, as long as one can ask and clarify what the person meant. And really, if a person says a race to 100 in straight pool, is there a player alive that is in any way unclear about what is meant by that? Is it that psychologically scarring to you? If it's that important to you to impress whatever person on the forum you want to impress with your superior knowledge of pool and billiards terms, I guess that is your perogative. I just dont' think such putdowns of every newcomer to the forum is really productive, but then again, our goals and ambitions may be different in that regard.

I’ve been upset with language ever since the Tower of Babel.

 

[HawaiianEye]

This was coined as "best out of 21" in my day

I heard that a lot, too.

 

[Bob Jewett]

This was coined as "best out of 21" in my day

This requires players to be able to add one and divide by two.

An advantage of "race to" is that it allows you to describe game spots more easily -- "race to ten I get two on the wire."

Fortunately "race to" and "best of" are not ambiguous. There are lots of common pool/carom/snooker words that are potentially confusing. Among others, kick, throw, reverse, and skid are problems. A careful speaker will avoid using them or make extra sure their intent is clear.

 

[HawaiianEye]

This requires players to be able to add one and divide by two.

An advantage of "race to" is that it allows you to describe game spots more easily -- "race to ten I get two on the wire."

Fortunately "race to" and "best of" are not ambiguous. There are lots of common pool/carom/snooker words that are potentially confusing. Among others, kick, throw, reverse, and skid are problems. A careful speaker will avoid using them or make extra sure their intent is clear.

Spots are for sissies and dalmations.

 

[pt109]

Just last night, she called downstairs for a square head screw driver...so I grabbed two different sizes..
...then as an after thought, I grabbed one with multiple heads....sure enough, star was needed..
...yeah, words should mean something.

I was running the counter in the 80s....I’m holding four Gs stakes...as they start to rack the snooker table, they’re still talking....one guy thinks he’s playing five ahead...the other guy thinks he’s playing race to five.
...I turned the lights off...they started yelling at me....it took me a few minutes to get them to realize that they were talking about two different things...neither would play the other guy‘s way...so I gave their money back and they went home.....if I wasn’t there, there would’ve been a fight.
When the stakes are raised, words that can’t be interpreted ambiguously can get pretty important.

 

[The_JV]

Just last night, she called downstairs for a square head screw driver...so I grabbed two different sizes..
...then as an after thought, I grabbed one with multiple heads....sure enough, star was needed..

I have taught both my kids and wife the differences between the Robinson and Phillips driver types. Oh and it's not a 'flat', but a 'standard', even if you plan on using it as a chisel...lol

 

[pt109]

I have taught both my kids and wife the differences between the Robinson and Phillips driver types. Oh and it's not a 'flat', but a 'standard', even if you plan on using it as a chisel...lol

So now we’re getting into synonyms...lots of women won’t know the trade terms of screw drivers.
...but flat, square, and star won’t be misunderstood.

 

[The_JV]

So now we’re getting into synonyms...lots of women won’t know the trade terms of screw drivers.
...but flat, square, and star won’t be misunderstood.

Except in your original example wherein your wife called a phillips a square.

..and I wouldn't expect anyone of any gender to know the trade names of anything until they're told for the first time. Knowlegde is power, pass it on

 

[Bob Jewett]

So now we’re getting into synonyms...lots of women won’t know the trade terms of screw drivers.
...but flat, square, and star won’t be misunderstood.

Ummmm... By "star" do you mean Torx?

 

[pt109]

Ummmm... By "star" do you mean Torx?

Hah, I need that on the latest patio furniture...didn’t know what to call it.

 

[Dunnn51]

Is there different kinds of "kiss" shots?? Like a full-hit kiss shot vs. a glancing blow shot?
I used to try to "kiss" an OB into a corner pocket after coming off of the long rail to get position mid table. Was only about 20% successful.
So, in that light, might a full-on "Kiss" shot be a girlfriend kiss, and a slicer "kiss" shot be an "Auntie" kiss shot ?? Like a peck on her cheek?

 

[Bob Jewett]

Hah, I need that on the latest patio furniture...didn’t know what to call it.

What's green and sits outside all summer?

 

[pt109]

 

[Cornerman]

I have taught both my kids and wife the differences between the Robinson and Phillips driver types. Oh and it's not a 'flat', but a 'standard', even if you plan on using it as a chisel...lol

I thought it was Robertson…