Darts Terminology and Slang Explained

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Darts has a vocabulary all of its own, half of it invented in pubs and half of it invented by TV commentators. You do not need any of it to play, but you will hear all of it if you play for long.

This is a plain-English glossary of darts terms, from the parts of a dart to the slang you will hear shouted at a board.

Terms are grouped rather than strictly alphabetical, so that related words sit together. If you are looking for one word in particular, your browser's find function will get you there faster.

Sections:

Equipment
The Board
Game Terms
Scores and Finishes
Slang and Nicknames
Technique

Equipment

The four parts of a dart. Weight lives almost entirely in the barrel.

Arrows: British slang for darts. "Nice arrows" is a compliment.
Barrel: The metal body of the dart that you hold. Usually tungsten alloy in decent darts, brass or nickel-silver in cheap ones. Tungsten is denser, so the barrel can be thinner for the same weight, which leaves more room in a bed for the next dart.
Flight: The fin at the back of the dart. Standard, slim, kite and pear are the common shapes. Bigger flights are more stable; smaller ones fly flatter and take up less room.
Grip: The texture cut into the barrel: knurling, rings, grooves. Also, of course, the way you hold the dart.
Oche: Pronounced "ockey". The throwing line, 7 feet 9¼ inches (2.37 m) from the face of a steel-tip board. Often a raised strip of wood or rubber so you can feel it under your toe. The word probably comes from an old brewery name, though nobody is entirely sure.
Point: The steel tip of the dart. Soft-tip darts have a plastic point for electronic boards.
Shaft, stem: The section between barrel and flight. Nylon, aluminium or carbon fibre, in lengths from extra short to extra long. Longer shafts push the dart's balance back and can smooth out a wobbly flight.
Soft tip: Darts and boards designed for electronic play. Plastic points, lighter darts (usually under 20 grams), and a board full of tiny holes that registers the hit. The throw line for soft tip is 8 feet (2.44 m).
Steel tip: Traditional darts with metal points, thrown at a bristle (sisal) board. What the professionals use.
Sisal, bristle board: The material a proper dart board is made of: compressed plant fibre that closes up after the point is removed. A good sisal board lasts years if you rotate it.
Surround: A ring of foam or rubber fitted around the board to catch darts that miss. Saves walls, and marriages.

The Board

The areas of a dart board and what they are called.

Bed: Any single scoring area on the board. The treble 20 bed, the double 16 bed, the fat single 19 bed.
Bull, bullseye: The center of the board. The small red inner circle is the inner bull, double bull or simply "bull", worth 50. The green ring around it is the outer bull or single bull, worth 25.
Clock board: The standard board layout with 20 at the top and the familiar sequence of numbers around the edge. Named for its resemblance to a clock face.
Double, double ring: The thin outer ring of the board. A dart there scores twice the segment's number.
Fat single, inner single: The large single area between the treble ring and the bull. The easiest target on each number.
Number ring: The wire ring with the numbers on it. On good boards it rotates so you can turn the board and spread the wear.
Segment: One of the twenty wedges of the board, each with its own number.
Spider, wire: The metal web that divides the board into beds. "Hit the wire" means a dart bounced off it. Modern boards use very thin, angled wire so fewer darts bounce out.
Thin single, outer single: The narrow single area between the double ring and the treble ring.
Treble, triple, treble ring: The thin inner ring, halfway to the bull. Three times the segment's number. British players say treble, Americans say triple. Same ring.

Game Terms

Average: Points scored per three darts, the standard measure of a player's level. A pub player might average 40 to 60. County players push 80. Professionals average over 90, and the very best top 100 in good matches.
Bull-up, bull-off, diddle for the middle: Each player throws one dart at the bull to decide who starts. Closest to the center throws first.
Bust: In 501, scoring more than you have left, or leaving yourself 1, or reaching zero without a double. The turn does not count and your score goes back to where it started.
Checkout, out, finish: The final visit that takes you to exactly zero. "What's the checkout for 96?" means "which darts finish 96?" (Treble 20, double 18.) See the checkout chart.
Close: In cricket, to put three marks on a number so it is yours. See the cricket rules.
Double in: A rule where nothing scores until you have hit a double. Used in some 301 games.
Double out: The standard rule in 501 and 301 that the last dart must be a double or the inner bull.
Leg: One game of 501. Matches are played over several legs, sometimes grouped into sets.
Mark: In cricket, one hit on a target. Three marks close the number.
Match, set: A set is a group of legs (usually best of five). A match is a group of sets, or, in most tournaments, just a group of legs.
Mugs away: The loser of the last leg throws first in the next one. Common in pub play instead of alternating the start.
Throw for bull: See bull-up.
Visit, turn: Three darts thrown by one player.

Scores and Finishes

Ton: A score of 100 in one visit. "Ton-plus" is anything over 100. "Ton-40" is 140, "ton-80" is 180.
180, maximum: Three treble 20s, the highest score with three darts. The reason crowds shout.
Big fish: The 170 checkout: treble 20, treble 20, bull. The highest possible finish.
Bogey number: A score that cannot be finished with three darts: 169, 168, 166, 165, 163, 162 and 159. Good players avoid leaving them.
Nine-darter, perfect leg: Finishing 501 in nine darts, the minimum possible. The classic route is 180, 180, then 141 finished with treble 20, treble 19, double 12. There are other routes, and the sport gets excited about every one of them.
Shanghai: Single, double and treble of the same number in one visit. Also the name of a game built around it, on the darts games page.
Three in a bed: All three darts in the same treble or double. Three in the treble 20 bed is a 180.
Tops: Double 20, worth 40. "Double top" means the same thing.
Madhouse: Double 1. The finish nobody wants, because if you keep missing it and hitting the single you are left needing double 1 again, forever.

Slang and Nicknames

Annie's room: A single 1. Old British slang, from music hall days.
Bag of nuts: A score of 45.
Bed and breakfast, breakfast: A score of 26: single 20, single 5, single 1. So called because a bed and breakfast once cost two shillings and sixpence. It is what you get when you aim at the 20 and miss on both sides.
Bounce out: A dart that hits the wire or a bare patch and falls to the floor. Scores nothing.
Chalker, marker: The person keeping score. Traditionally on a chalkboard, hence the name.
Cork: American slang for the bull. "Throw for cork" is bull-up.
Dartitis: A psychological condition where a player becomes unable to release the dart. It is real, it has ended careers, and it is not the same as a bad patch.
Fish: See big fish. Also, less politely, an easy opponent.
Hat trick: Three bulls in one visit.
Right church, wrong pew: Right number, wrong bed. A single 20 when you wanted the treble.
Robin Hood: A dart that lands in the back of another dart, sticking in the shaft or flight. Impressive, worthless, scores nothing.
Slop: A dart that scores something useful by accident.
Spray and pray: Throwing without a plan and hoping.
Wet feet: A foot over the oche. A foul in any organised game.

Technique

Grouping: How close together your three darts land. Tight grouping is the first sign of a repeatable throw, whether or not the group is on the target yet.
Follow-through: Continuing the arm's motion after the dart is released until the arm is straight. The part of the throw beginners skip. Explained in full in the throwing guide.
Release: The moment the fingers let go. Early release sends the dart high, late release sends it low.
Set-up: The position of the dart and arm just before the throw begins. The more identical the set-up each time, the more identical the darts.
Stacking: Landing a dart on top of one already in the bed, so both stay in. A sign of good grouping and a level flight.
Strangle grip: My name for holding the dart too tightly. The most common fault I fix in coaching.

Missing a word? Send it over and I will add it. For the rules that go with the vocabulary, start with darts scoring and 501.

If you want a second pair of eyes on your game, book a coaching session or email [email protected].