Dictionary
Le biberon
The kiss. When your boule comes to rest touching the cochonnet, that's a biberon — and the mène just got very interesting.
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Tir
The shot. The throw that means business. Pointing is conversation; shooting is the argument.
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Plombée
The throw that goes up to come straight down. High, soft, and dead on arrival.
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La donnée
The throw of the jack that starts every mène. Six to ten meters, one throw, and the whole game begins with a small piece of wood.
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Le Cercle
The throwing circle: the ring drawn on the ground from which every pétanque player must play. Thirty-five to fifty centimeters across, both feet inside, and the whole mène starts here.
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A throw that goes up to come straight down. Marcel explains.
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Carreau
The perfect shot in pétanque: the thrown boule strikes the opponent's boule dead-on, knocks it away, and stays exactly where it was. Part physics, part theater — and the word every tireur dreams of hearing.
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Tête-à-tête
One against one, three boules each — the duel format of pétanque, and a small theory of solitude, responsibility, and the apéro afterward.
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Doublette
Two against two, three boules each — the most-played format in pétanque, and a small theory of friendship in three configurations.
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Terroir
The great untranslatable French word: soil, climate, and know-how — and why it has no English equivalent.
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Mène
A single round of play — from mener, to lead. Every mène has a leader, and the lead changes hands the way power does.
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Fanny
Lose 13–0 and tradition demands a kiss. Two theories of losing, one painted backside.
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