Introduction

I fell in love with pétanque at first sight back in 1965. Playing or practising the game nearly every day over many summers in Marseille and in an Alpine village, I absorbed its terminology and tactics (and a rich vocabulary of swear words) through the expressive language and accent of the Midi.

As a result of this conditioning, I just can’t dissociate pétanque from French. As in other sports or activities, eg, football and cooking, where the terminology associated with its origin or development is used by speakers of other languages, so with pétanque we already use some French terms such as boule/bowl, point/aim and (a false friend) coche/jack.

NB Coche is an English abbreviation of cochonnet. In French, coche means stagecoach!

This lexicon brings together all the common French terms and expressions of pétanque that enshrine the spirit of the game, for the benefit of English-speaking practitioners or fans. Speaking some pétanque lingo will also greatly please and impress any French people you play with (there’s really no need to worry about your accent).

Any corrections or suggestions for improving the lexicon are welcome.

David Alfred             May 2009

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Scoring

So, first things first, the relevant numbers are nil to thirteen: zero, un, deux, trois, quatre, cinq, six, sept, huit, neuf, dix, onze, douze, treize.

All is partout, thus dix partout (10 all).

Say you’re leading 10-5: that’s dix à cinq. If you’re asked the score/“vous êtes à combien?” say “nous sommes dix à cinq”/we are 10-5 or “on mène/gagne dix à cinq”/we’re leading/winning 10-5. If you’re asked the score and are losing 5-10 say “on perd cinq à dix”.

If someone asks you what is the score of another game, “ils sont à combien?”, say “ils sont dix à cinq”/they are 10-5.

When declaring whose is the winning point, say “il/le point est à nous/vous”/it/the point is ours/yours.

When counting the number of winning points at the end of an end, say “il y a deux points”/there are two points, and possibly continue“alors, ça fait x à y”/so that makes it x-y.

To score is marquer. Thus: on a marqué deux points/we’ve scored two points.

The Game

To play a game of pétanque/une partie de pétanque you need les boules and a jack, for which there are several expressions: officially, le but (goal), most commonly, le bouchon (cork), but also le cochonnet (piglet) or coche [abbrev. used in the UK only: to be avoided if humanly possible], le petit (little one), etc.

And it is useful to have un mètre/a measuring instrument.

Each end/la mène starts from le rond or le cercle/the circle on le terrain/the terrain,possibly divided into les cadres/les pistes/playing areas/lanes.

The three formats of pétanque are:

• les triplettes/triples with opposing teams/les équipes, each of three players/les jouers: le pointeur/the pointer, le milieu/the middle and le tireur/the shooter, each player having deuxboules.
• les doublettes/doubles, each player having trois boules.
• une tête-à-tête/a head-to-head, each player having trois boules.

You might ask or be asked “on fait une partie?”/shall we have a game? And respond:

“oui, bien sûr”/yes, certainly/sure.

You might be asked whether tu tires ou tu pointes?/do you point or shoot?

Having just lost a game, you might want to play la revanche (lit: revenge)/a return match.

And if it’s one game all, you might be asked if you want to play la belle/the deciding game.

So now we are starting a game: “C’est à nous/à vous de jouer”/It’s we/you to play [first].

Pointing

Le pointeur envoie le bouchon/the pointer throws the jack, then points the first boule.

The pointer always needs, especially on an uneven terrain or one with slopes, to identify la donnée/the landing spot. They might ask “ou est la donnée?”/where is the landing spot?

The three ways of pointing are:

• faire rouler/faire glisser/to roll or slide, the boule along the ground
• faire plomber/porter/envoyer/to lob the boule in the air so that it lands within a metre or so of the jack
• faireune demi-portée/to half-lob

Sometimes the boule will kiss the jack/embouchonner.

In general, the best point is one that is lies in front of/devant the jack or in the line of play, for which the rhyming saying goes: “une boule devant, c`est une boule d`argent”/a boule in front, that’s a money boule.

Faire un devant de boule/to place your boule in front of and kissing an opponent`s (usually when lying behind the jack and holding the point). This is a very good play as your boule is difficult or impossible to shoot.

The least good point, usually, is one lying behind/derrière the jack: to wit, another rhyming saw, boule derrière, boule qui perd/boule behind, boule that loses.

If there is room for your next boule(s) to beat the opponents’ holding boule or to add to your score in the end being played, you might say “il y a de la place”/there’s room.

If your point just beats a poor one by the opponents, one might say, ironically, “tu as or il/elle a gagné un bon”/you or he/she has won a good one.

Un point de l’Anglais/an English person’s point: a mediocre point but one that is still lost by the opponents.

Un nari (Provençal?)/a rubbish point.

“Je l’ai gardée à la main”/I kept it in my hand: when the pointer doesn’t release the boule properly.

“C’est à qui?”/who’s is it? Asking whether the point just played has won or not.

“C’est à qui de jouer?”/Whose turn is it to play? One team or the other.

As a boule rapidly passes by the jack, one might say ironically, “à Ventimiglia”/to Ventimiglia (a town far east of Marseille, just inside Italy). On our terrain, one might say “into the sea” or “to Western Road”.

To encourage a boule to slow down as it nears the jack, one might shout at it avales/swallow, freines/brake or grattes/scratch.

One might advise the pointer to play “pas plus fort que le jeu”/no stronger than the game, especially when there is a danger of moving the jack or an opponent boule to your disadvantage.

“C’est pas au jeu”/lit. it’s not in the game,ie, when the boule has not taken the right trajectory.

“Ça gagne/prend/that wins/takes (the point).

“Ça perd”/that loses.

“Elle est (un peu) longue/courte”/it [the boule] is (a bit) long/short.

“(Un peu) plus haut/bas”/[point] (a little) higher/lower, on a terrain sloping laterally from the circle.

“(Un peu) plus long/court”/[play] (a little) longer/shorter.

“(Un peu) plus/moins fort”/[play] (a little) heavier/less heavy.

“(Un peu) plus à gauche/à droite/[play] (a little) more to the left/right.

Serrer/to screw, ie, to give the boule backspin to reduce its forward motion.

Thus, “il faut la serrer”/you should backspin it.

Ajouter/to add (more points): “ajoutons”/let’s get more points.

Le sac/the bag: losing/winning all six points in one end.

Shooting

The basic words are tirer/to shoot and frapper/to hit (there is a subtle difference between the two, although shooting is often used to mean hitting).

The three types of shot are:

• tirer au fer/lit. shooting on the iron, ie, metal to metal or ‘on the full’.
• tirer devant/shooting in front of, ie, hitting the ground within about 30cm in front of the target boule.
• tirer à la rafle/à la raspaille/shooting by rolling the boule along the ground (frowned on by purists).

The best shot is un carreau (square) when the shooting boule stays within a few centimetres of the target boule. The perfect shot – nearly always a pleasure to see, always a great pleasure to perform – is un carreau sur place when the shooting boule takes exactly the place of the target boule: so shooting and pointing at the same time!

Faire un palet is sometimes used to describe the above from un tir devant.

Tirer à la sautée/to shoot by jumping over: shooting a boule that lies behind another one.

Tirer sur l’oreille/to shoot on the ear, ie, on the side of the target boule so that it moves sideways.

Tirer le but/to shoot the jack: often as a last resort to avoid defeat.

Tchiquer/to brush a boule, leaving it more or less in place.

If you think the play is to shoot, you might say “tires-y”/shoot it, “frappes-y”/hit it, “feu” or “fèbre”(Provençal)/fire or “fais-la partir”/make it go away.

If a shot is missed, you might say:

“je l’ai manquée or il/elle l’a manquée”/I or he/she missed it

“j’ai fait un trou or il/elle a fait un trou”/I or he/she has made a hole

“je l’ai or il/elle l’a ratée”/I or he/she missed it

“elle n’était pas droite”/it (the boule) wasn’t straight

Common Expressions

Here are most of the common expressions you’ll hear on the terrain:

• “Bien joué”/well played.
• “Bien tiré”/well shot.
• “Bien pointé”/well pointed.
• “Ça suffit”/that’s enough, when a shot just clips the target boule to give you the point.
• “C’est malheureux”/that’s unfortunate, if something goes unexpectedly wrong.
• “C’est de la chance”/that’s lucky, if something goes unexpectedly well.
• ‘’C’est quoi, le jeu?’’/what’s the game? ie, what shot should we play or what tactics should we adopt?
• “Cette fois”/this time, encouraging someone to play again having missed the first shot or point.
• Démarquer is to play in such a way as to lose your holding point(s) – very frustrating: thus, “on a démarqué”/(colloq.) we’ve been and gone and done it.
• “Fais-moi plaisir”/make me happy: a term of encouragement before someone is about to point or shoot.
• Faire fanny or être fanny/baiser fanny[vulgar] is to make (the opponents) lose 13-0 or to lose 13-0.
• “Lever le bras”/to lift your arm: encouraging a player not let the boule drop too early on the ground, especially when shooting.
• “N’aies pas peur”/don’t be afraid: of what disaster might befall a point or a shot.
• “Serrer le jeu”/to tighten up the game: usually, pointing in such a way as to minimise loss or the possibility of losing.