My favorite way to learn about a subculture is a glossary. The more thorough, the better. A good glossary compiles the accumulated idiosyncrasies of a group in one place and should awe the viewer with its unapologetic appropriation of language. The best glossary I’ve ever seen is this staggeringly long bowling glossary. My friends and I used to hang out at the bowling alley throughout high school and college, and I would be surprised if I’d heard even five percent of the terms in that glossary prior to reading it.

I tried to pick one example from the bowling glossary to excerpt here, but almost every entry is its own delight, probably because the world of bowling is inherently funny. There are nicknames for every variety of split:

CHRISTMAS TREE
The 3-7-10 or 2-7-10 split; so-called because of the triangular arrangement.

POISON IVY
The 3-6-10 split.

BED POSTS
The 7-10 split.

WOOLWORTH
The 5-10 (five and dime) split; see also “Kresge.”

BIG EARS
The 4-6-7-10 split.

CINCINNATI
The 8-10 split.

GREEK CHURCH
A split leave of five pins similar to the 4-6-7-9-10; so called because it reminds people of an old cathedral type church with spires etc.

I like entries where the lexicographer provides an explanation for the origin of the term, e.g.:

GRAY BOARD
The gutter. Many centers have their gutters painted gray; hitting the gray board is an attempt at humor to tell someone that the shot went in the gutter.

And WHAT an attempt!

My favorite, though, is probably this pair, which offers the one glimmer of self-awareness in the whole thing:

FIELD GOAL
A ball that travels between two pins without knocking down either of them.

JACK MANDERS
Same as field goal. (Jack Manders was a field goal kicker for the Chicago Bears back in the 1930s, so this term is pretty much dated.)

I will henceforth use the term “Jack Manders” wherever appropriate, and often where inappropriate.