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A Lexicon of Mibology |
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| Aggies |
Marbles slightly larger than usual size, most often of agate, sometimes of limestone.
Most come from Germany, are heavy, and highly prized.
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| American fried |
Larger than average marbles, of glass, that have been heated, then iced,
creating inner cracks. Used as shooters.
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| Ante |
The number of marbles agreed upon as stakes for the winner or to put into an enclosure
and shot at -- for keeps.
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| Big ring |
Game similar to Ring Taw and Ringer. See Ringer.
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| Black Beauties |
Shooters usually made of obsidian or black agate. Heavy, extremely rare and
prized.
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| Bomber |
Another name for Chasing or Trailing. See Trail.
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| Bombsie |
A rather unsophisticated arching, droping shot.
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| Boss |
A shooter; also short for Boss-Out, a chase game.
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| Bowlers |
Large shooters, often aggies, often of scrap glass, but just as often reflectors pried out
of traffic signs. Generally regarded as prizes because of the danger inherent in securing them.
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| Bowling |
Rolling or throwing a shooter marble along the ground to hit a target. Bowling is
generally popular with those who aren't much good at shooting. At the beginning of a game,
players often bowl to see who goes first.
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| Bullseye |
Shooting at a hole in the groun or at the marked- off center of a designated area.
Those who play it say it is a skill game; those more honest admit there's a large element of "luck."
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| Bumboozer |
A very large marble, used as a bowling shooter. Also called a Boulder, or
Caboubler or Scaboulder.
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| Candy stripes |
Swirled red and white or red, white and blue marbles. Prized early German
glassies.
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| Cats eyes |
Glass marbles with football-shaped wedges of color in otherwise clear glass.
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| Chase games |
Basically a game in which players chase one another's marble, trying to hit the
opponent's therby winning it. Chase games neither call for enclosures -- rings, squares, triangles
-- nor holes or pots. For variations of the game, see Boss-Out and Chasies.
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| Clams |
Marbles.
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| Clayeys |
Small marbles of clay. Never used as shooters but rather as target or object amrbles.
Held in low esteem.
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| Clearance! |
A defensive shout which permits our to clear away roughness or debris before
shooting. Such a shout negates a possible "Smoothi" penalty. See Smoothing.
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| Cleareys |
Clear glass marbles, often tinted and bubbly inside.
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| Clodknockers |
Ordinary marbles to be shot at. See Mibs.
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| Commies |
Pronounced "Comme-ee" not "Commie" as in "Commie Rat." The small marbles at
which shooters are shot. See Mibs.
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| Commons |
See Commies.
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| Crockies |
See Commies.
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| Cunny Thumb |
To shoot with the knuckles off the ground. Regarded as a "sissy" way of
shooting.
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| Dibs |
Clay marbles, clayeys.
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| Doughies |
Another name for clayeys.
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| Dubs |
Hitting two or more marbles out of a ring with one shot. The caroms involved make this
one of the prettiest shots in championship polay. Also used as another name for Ringer.
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| Ducks |
Object marbles, to be shot at.
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| Edgers |
Marbles near the edge of the ring.
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| Eggies |
Short for "Can I borrow a few marbles?" as in "Eggies on the aggies?"
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| Enclosure games |
Also called circle games. Games in which marbles are shot within a confined
area outlined on the ground. The shapes are usually geometric, most often a circle of a square.
For variations of the game, see Ringer and Knuckle Box.
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| English |
To give the shooting marble backspin, causing the target marble to carom off in
unexpected directions.
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| Eye drops |
Dropping a shooter directly down on an object marble. A "luck" shot.
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| Fens! or Fins! or Finns! |
An all-inclusive call by which a player can suspend all rules until he has
planned his shot. A most valuable offensive ploy.
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| Flints |
Another name for aggies.
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| For fair |
Playing only for the results of a game. All of the marbles won are returned, either to
their owner or to the tournament.
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| For keeps |
For keeps.
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| Fudging |
Easing your hand over the ring line before shooting. In tournament play this is
cheating and carries a one-shot forfeit. Also used as a general term for cheating.
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| Glancing shot |
A shot not head on, that hits the target tangentially, then bounces off.
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| Glassies |
Glass marbles. Larger ones are used as shooters.
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| Globolla |
Giant glass marble used in bowling games.
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| Heggies |
See Eggies.
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| Heist |
To rest one's shooting hand atop the other hand. Before shooting, a call of "Heist!" is
necessary. A call of "No Heist!" by another player means one is out of luck.
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| Histing |
Raising the hand from the ground before shooting. This is cheating.
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| Hit |
When a marble is knocked out of a ring.
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| Hole |
Also called pot. Holes in marbles games can vary in depth -- from the size of a twelve-
year-old's heel to something dug out with a garden spade. Shallow holes are called saucers.
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| Hole games |
Games in which the object is to get marbles in a hole, out of a hole, a certain
distance from a hole -- always a hole. For variations of the game, see Potty and Nucks.
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| Hoodles |
Object marbles, to be shot at.
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| Hunching |
Moving the hand forward while shooting. This is cheating too. In tournament play
this means inching one's hand over the edge of the ring. Also known as fudging, and carries a
one-shot penalty.
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| Immies |
Imitation agate. Initially of clay, later of ordinary glass. In Canada, milky marbles to be
shot at, or in a pinch, used as substitute shooters. In eastern United States, a general term for all
marbles games.
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| Inching |
See Hunching.
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| Jumbos |
See Globollas and Bowlers. Also called Caboulders.
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| Knuckle down |
To rest one or more of one's knuckles on the ground while shooting. A general
term denoting the correct form for shooting. The marble should rest against the ball of the first
finger rather than the crook.
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| Knucks down tight |
See Knuckle Down.
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| Lagging |
The act of tossing or shooting from the Pitch Line. Whoever comes closest to the lag
line without going over it shoots first. See Pitch Line.
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| Lag Line |
A straight line tangent to, and touching, the ring in tournament play.
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| Little solids |
Small glass marbles, solid color. Used as target marbles. The marbles in Chinese
checkers sets.
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| Lofting |
The act of shooting a marble through the air in an arc to hit a marble in the ring. Also
called Popping.
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| Marker |
A single marble used as a target.
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| Marrididdles |
Homemade clayeys.
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| Mibs |
Object or target marbles. Also Mibbies, Mibsies, Miggs, and Miggles.
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| Milkies |
Translucent white glassies. Also called Creamies.
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| Miss |
When player fails to knock an object marble from the ring.
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| Monnies |
Another term for shooters.
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| Moonaggies |
Marbles made of carnelian. So named because when they crack, generally from
the inside, moon or cresent shapes form on the surfaces. A cure for the cracks is complete
submersion in grease or lard.
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| Pedab |
Another name for Doughie.
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| Peeries |
Small clear glass marbles. Often used as another name for cleareys.
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| Peewee |
A very small marble.
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| Pitch line |
A straight line opposite from and parallel with the Lag Line.
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| Plumpers |
See Trail.
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| Pot |
See Hole.
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| Pot marble |
Another name for Little Solids.
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| Potsies |
Another name for Ringer.
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| Potty |
Circular hole dug into the ground, into which marbles are shot.
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| Puggy |
Game in which marbles are shot into the Potty.
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| Purgy |
See Ringer.
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| Purey |
Small clear glass marbles, brightly colored. Highly prized and genrally worth from two to
five clayeys.
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| Rainbow mibs |
Target marbles.
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| Rainbow reeler |
A multi-colored shooter.
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| Realies |
Real marble marbles, as opposed to glass. Thought to be another name for
moonaggies.
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| Ringer |
The "official" marbles game as played in the National Marbles Tournament. It is played
by placing 13 marbles in the form of a cross in the middle of a 10-foot- diameter ring. Shooters
shoot from the ring's edge and knock marbles out of the ring. The first player scoring seven hits
wins.
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| Ring taw |
Another name for Ringer.
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| Rollsies! |
A defensive call to force a player to roll his shooter in a bowling marbles game rather
than throw it.
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| Roundsters |
Circling around the playing ring, seeking the best shooting position. Also called
Rounders.
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| Scaboulder |
See Globolla.
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| Scrapper |
A glass marble made from scrap glass. Some Bowlers are Scrappers.
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| Scrumpy knuckle |
To shoot wiht the knuckles off the ground. Another name for Cunny Thumb.
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| Shooter |
The agate marble shot at other marbles. Generally slightly larger then the ordinary run
of glassies. Most are made in Germany and appear to find their way here by osmosis.
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| Shooting |
Also called firing, flicking, pinching, dribbling, pinking, dribbying, drizzying, throwing or
bowling. See Knuckle Down.
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| Shot |
Snapping the marble from the hand with the thumb from where it is held against the ball of
the first finger. Knucks, of course, must be down.
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| Smokies |
Glassies with puffs of color inside.
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| Smoothing |
Leveling off, removing obstacles from the ground before shooting. Forbidden, and
carries a one-shot penalty.
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| Slip |
Misplay when marble falls from the hand. Player reshoots.
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| Snooger |
A near miss.
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| Solid peewees |
Term for the 13 marbles in the center of the championship ring.
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| Spannies |
A shooting distance. The measurement between the tip of the thumb to the tip of the
middle finger when stretched apart.
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| Steeley |
Usually a ball bearing. Popular as a shooter in the World War II era. It helped to have a
father who worked in a defense plant.
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| Stick |
When a shooter's marble stops inside the ring after knocking a target marble out of the
ring. The shooter may shoot continually if he continues to stick.
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| Sticker |
Object or target marble.
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| Sugar |
To rough up a shooter either on concrete or with sandpaper to afford oneself a better
grip.
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| Taw |
Another name for a shooter.
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| Three-finger-flat |
Player shoots with the thumb and first finger while keeping his three other
fingers flat to the ground.
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| Throwsies |
Common sort of shooting in bowling-type games.
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| Toe-bombsie |
Using the toe height to shoot from in bowling games. Very expert, achieves
bouncing caroms.
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| Trail |
General term for marbles games in which shooters follow each other as they move from
one location to another. Also known as Chasing, Plumpers, and scores of other names.
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| Walk |
As in "Take a Walk." When a player walks through the ring in a match. He must give up
one of the marbles he has won if he does this.
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| Waters |
Clear glass marbles.
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| Zebras |
Glass marbles with white and black swirls. Common in New York City, rare elsewhere.
Prized as shooters.
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| Zulu golf |
One of many terms for games in which players shoot into a series of holes dug into
the ground.
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