Last update of this page 02/25/2001

Summary

The outlook and the vocabulary of a bowls perfect player

"Fanny"

Players playing for money

Vocabulary (these are french expressions) :

Boulodrome : Bowling alley
Pastis : Aniseed aperitive
Pétanque : French bowls
Bouliste : Player of "Pétanque"
Pointeur : The guy who is used to "pointer"
Le rond (the circle) : it's where you start playing.
Cochonnet, But : Jack, Goal (Little round piece of wood you have to reach)
Biberon (feeding bottle) : a bowl sticks to the but.
Une mène : Time between the shot of the but and the last bowl.
Une partie (the game) : the partie is finish when a team reach 13 points.
Une donnée (a data) : the ideal place where must land your bowl before rolling.
Avoir l'avantage (take advantage) : You have favorable situation in the game.
Pointer (to point, to place) : that means to get your bowl nearest to the but.
Plomber (to weight) : this is a technique to point, you throw the bowl very high and  the bowl falls and stops near the but.
Tirer (to shoot) : To strike an opponent bowl in order to put it out of the game.
Tireur : The guy who is used to shoot.
Faire un trou (to do a hole) : that means that you missed the bowl when you had shoted.
Tirer à la rafle : it is a technique to shoot, it is the technique of the bowling, the bowl rolls.
Tirer au fer : it is an other technique to shoot, the bowl lands on the opponent bowl. The bowl doesn't touch to ground before.
Un carreau : that mean you have done a perfect shoot, your bowl took the place of the opponent bowl.
Un rétro : that mean you have shooted a bowl, and your bowl after the impact came back.
Faire une casquette (to do a cap) : your bowl bounce on the opponent bowl.
Serrer le jeu (to squeeze the game) : You are in a bad situation. You use your bowls to minimize the disaster. Don't shoot!!
Fanny : You get zero point at the end of the game

Fanny : You get zero point at the end of the game.

I hope you will never be Fanny. It is very ashamed. If you are Fanny you have to kiss the arse of Fanny (in France Fanny it's a woman first name). On every bowls playing ground there is a woman who calls Fanny, no it's a joke but there is a photo (like the 4 pictures) which is displayed for the tradition.

    This tradition comes from the Savoie (a french departement in the Alpes). Fanny was a waitress at the Grand-Lemps coffee, just before the first world war. The legende says that, by kidness, she lets kiss her by the customers whose get zero point at the end of the game. The kiss was made on the cheek.
    Until the day (according to the legend), the mayor of the village lost with zero point and came ask his reward. Did Fanny have a grievance against him and did she want to humiliate him in public ? Nobody say. She climbs above a chair, rides up her skirt and shows him her buttocks ! The mayor don't lose countenance. After one second, two kisses resound in the coffee. It was the beginning of a long tradition...

    You are quietly on vacation next to Marseille or in the South of the France (where people are very strong for this game). You decide to go playing bowls on the village place against premises, you have already close to 75% to fall on bruts. They accept to play against you but, there are not little players and they ask you to play some money (10 to 50 franc per head, 2 to 10 euros). If you accept, they will probably lose the first game but they will invoice you double the revenge, you will be force to accept, then the dicider, be carful of your wallet!!!

MARCHAND Olivier - marcholi@yahoo.fr
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