Why English?
- Thread starter poolnoob
- Start date
For the same reason Americans say French Fries or several Canadians call a pool ball set "Boston." Because the first person Americans associated spin shots was an Englishman.
Fred
no, no no
For right- handed diners it was placed on the right side of the main plate
and for left- handed diners it was placed on the left side. Thus it became commonly referred to as right Ingglish or left Ingglish.
Swedish pool players picked this up and, as a joke at first, started calling their side spin either right Ingglish or left Ingglish. When Swedish pool players traveled to England for tournaments the English players heard this reference and, being as arrogant as they were, thought that the Swedes were saying ,"English."
Thereafter and to this day we now refer to sidespin as English. :grin:
It's never that simple.Here's the truth. The Swedish had a traditional dish of fermented fish called ," Ingglish." It was eaten as a side dish to the entree.
For right- handed diners it was placed on the right side of the main plate
and for left- handed diners it was placed on the left side. Thus it became commonly referred to as right Ingglish or left Ingglish.
Swedish pool players picked this up and, as a joke at first, started calling their side spin either right Ingglish or left Ingglish. When Swedish pool players traveled to England for tournaments the English players heard this reference and, being as arrogant as they were, thought that the Swedes were saying ,"English."
Thereafter and to this day we now refer to sidespin as English. :grin:
I've heard it called "duck butter". 
Why English, you ask? Because we don't speak Portugese, that's why. Next question.
huh?
That's patently absurd. Who ever heard of ," left duck butter," and,
"right duck butter?" :groucho:
I've heard it called "duck butter".
That's patently absurd. Who ever heard of ," left duck butter," and,
"right duck butter?" :groucho:
Did a search ...
Many answers were similar to:
http://en.allexperts.com/q/Pool-Billiards-2283/origin-words.htm
Question
Where did the word "english" come from when referring to
the spin emparted on the cue ball..??
Answer
Hi Jerry.
According to the Illustrated Encyclopedia of Billiards (one of the top authoritative sources in the industry), the origin of the the term english to refer to sidespin is unknown. Apparently the most common theory is that during the 1800s Englishmen either visiting or or who had emigrated to America, may have introduced sidespin and their nation of origin was applied to the technique.
Best of luck,
Pool Teacher
Many answers were similar to:
http://en.allexperts.com/q/Pool-Billiards-2283/origin-words.htm
Question
Where did the word "english" come from when referring to
the spin emparted on the cue ball..??
Answer
Hi Jerry.
According to the Illustrated Encyclopedia of Billiards (one of the top authoritative sources in the industry), the origin of the the term english to refer to sidespin is unknown. Apparently the most common theory is that during the 1800s Englishmen either visiting or or who had emigrated to America, may have introduced sidespin and their nation of origin was applied to the technique.
Best of luck,
Pool Teacher
It's probably a colloquialism used in prison league play. My guess is that if you find yourself in that situation, opt for being the "duck buttor" and not the "duck buttee".
Thanks for sharing. That's interesting.
Screw is a nice term since it's descriptive (e.g., left screw or right screw says what you are doing to the cue ball and has no reference to what happens after the cue ball hits the object ball).
But, running check seems to be somewhat of an oxymoron in that it refers to what happens to the cue ball after it hits the object ball (and it's either one or the other and not both). For example, assume you are shooting a spot shot (i.e., place an object ball on the foot spot where the head of the rack is and the cue ball is behind the head string/in the kitchen) and the cue ball is placed on the left side of the table and you are going to shoot to pocket the object ball into the top right corner pocket.
If you use top left english (i.e., left running check) it will impart what we call running english on the cue ball and it will want to run around two rails after hitting the short foot rail. However, if you use top right english (i.e., right running check) the cue ball will want to check up after hitting foot rail (and not run around the rails).
So, in the above example, I would want to say that I'm using either top left running english or top right checking english. Not both terms at the same time since only one of them seems to apply at any given time.
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This ranks right up there in funny posts:grin-square:
You are correct. I mentioned it because it is very different to what is common talk in the US.
I am thinking they call it running check to cover everything that could happen.Interesting all the same.The serious players here replace tips every 2 -3 weeks and alot use elkmasters.
Neil
realy?
It's never that simple.Here's the truth. The Swedish had a traditional dish of fermented fish called ," Ingglish." It was eaten as a side dish to the entree.
For right- handed diners it was placed on the right side of the main plate
and for left- handed diners it was placed on the left side. Thus it became commonly referred to as right Ingglish or left Ingglish.
Swedish pool players picked this up and, as a joke at first, started calling their side spin either right Ingglish or left Ingglish. When Swedish pool players traveled to England for tournaments the English players heard this reference and, being as arrogant as they were, thought that the Swedes were saying ,"English."
Thereafter and to this day we now refer to sidespin as English. :grin:[/QUOTE]
-Are you pulling our collective leg?
It's never that simple.Here's the truth. The Swedish had a traditional dish of fermented fish called ," Ingglish." It was eaten as a side dish to the entree.
For right- handed diners it was placed on the right side of the main plate
and for left- handed diners it was placed on the left side. Thus it became commonly referred to as right Ingglish or left Ingglish.
Swedish pool players picked this up and, as a joke at first, started calling their side spin either right Ingglish or left Ingglish. When Swedish pool players traveled to England for tournaments the English players heard this reference and, being as arrogant as they were, thought that the Swedes were saying ,"English."
Thereafter and to this day we now refer to sidespin as English. :grin:[/QUOTE]
-Are you pulling our collective leg?
-Are you pulling our collective leg?[/QUOTE]
I'm sure he is pulling our collective leg on that one. However, the prison league/duck butter story is true.
I don't know if the phrase "duck butter" originated in prison or not. But the fellow I heard use that phrase most often had been a police officer. :grin:
Some of us also called it "dewey". We didn't really do English as we lived in the Missouri Ozarks. :wink:
A player might make an impressive spin shot and another would cry out, "See that dewey!!".
Some of us also called it "dewey". We didn't really do English as we lived in the Missouri Ozarks. :wink:
A player might make an impressive spin shot and another would cry out, "See that dewey!!".
Maybe since the French had already locked up the vertical centerline, the only thing left for the English was the sides????
No offense intended! Etymology can be fascinating (to me anyway) however, I have yet to find a good reference book online source for the subject.
Oftentimes when there is no easy answer the signal to noise ratio can suffer.