Curling lingo: Anyone ready to weagle?

Anyone seen a weagle out there?

During the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, a friend of mine said she was watching curling and couldn’t understand a bloody thing.

“Oh, I can explain the rules to you,” I offered.

“No,” she said. “It’s the LINGO. What the hell are they talking about? In-off, slash double, turned it in, heater, board weight…WTF??”

True. We curlers do have a language all our own, and after her comments, I started listening more clearly to what Vic, Linda and Russ (as well as other curling commentators on other networks) were saying.

Of course it made perfect sense to me, but I’ve been speaking the language for years. I’m reminded of the looks on the faces of the high-school curlers I coached this year as I explained why trying to “steal one without, take two with” were some of the options they could try. Wha?

Curling lingo has developed over the years. The curlers who joined my parents on the ice at CFB Downsview back in the sixties probably wouldn’t understand much of the commentary either, although they knew the game well enough and would probably figure it out. But for a newcomer to the sport? Watching it on TV must be quite a challenge – as my friend suggested.

It’s not just that the sport has its own terms – every sport has that. But curling language is evolving. “Hurry hard” is the familiar skip’s call for sweeping, but you can thank Russ Howard for that one. I’m not certain, but I seem to recall it was the late Sandra Schmirler who introduced that wonderful description of what a good take-out should do: “Make it go away.” (Open to correction here. Anyone?)

And of course the 2012-2013 season saw the introduction of a new curling term: the Weagle. Or “to weagle” – as in, tick a guard out of the way, but not out of play, a tactic that works wonders to combat the aggressive four-rock free-guard-zone rule.

As a writer, language is my passion. As a curler, the words that describe and drive my game are tools. I love that the toolbox is full of lively, meaningful, creative and innovative language, and I love that the sport is growing and changing.

Piss-cutter and Make It Go Away: Curling words to live by

As a curling writer, I'm fascinated by the language of the game. Friends of mine told me that when they tried to watch the Olympic curling event, they were in stitches over the indecipherable language - "code" they called it - used by the announcers. Try it: turn your curling antenna off and just listen to the lingo used to describe our game. It's pretty darn strange.

But there's always room for word evolution in curling.

At the recent Scotties, Saskatchewan (now Team Canada) skip Amber Holland drew lots of attention for her unusual lingo during a few games.

Referring to one of her rocks as a "piss-cutter" got people talking. Is that a bad word? What does it mean? How did that one get by the censors?

Truth is, the term is not as inappropriate as you might think.  Although I haven't concluded my research, it appears that the term is in common usage in the U.S. Marine corps, as the name of a certain type of folded cap worn with a uniform. But it's also been found as far afield as New Brunswick, as a term for something outstanding or good. "A real piss-cutter of a job", says Bill Casselman, collector of unusual Canadian terms, means to do a really good job of something. (You can read Bill's blog, here).

An article in the National Post in which Amber got "cornered" by reporter Cory Wolfe, suggests that the term is actually from Old English. I checked in with Professor Elizabeth Greene at Queen's University, a Old English specialist, and she says the term doesn't ring any bells with her. (We both went running for our copies of Beowulf and found nothing).

So the truth is out there, readers.  If anyone can help nail this one down, I'd love to know.

******

How often have we heard the announcers (and occasionally, curlers) preface a hit with the phrase: "We just want to make it go away."

Now, my question is, have curlers always been using this phrase - make it go away - or is it the invention of the late Sandra Schmirler (my theory)?

I can remember Sandra discussing shots with Jan Betker, her third, in the house and announcing that the plan was to "make it go away", at which point TSN announcers Vic, Linda and Ray would laugh in approval.

My question: did Sandra invent this term? Does anyone remember "Make it go away" being used in curling parlance before the late 1990s?

The language of curling: another reason to love the Roaring Game. (And of course we know where that term came from....right?)