| Expression | Meaning |
| Bed Post | A 7-10 split |
| Cheesy Cakes | Lanes on which strikes come easily |
| Cherry | To pick off the front pin, but leave the back pin |
| Christmas Tree | For right handers, a 3-7-10 split. For lefties, a 2-7-10 split |
| Cincinnatti | An 8-10 split |
| Deadwood | Pins that have been knocked down |
| Dinner Bucket | Leaving the 2,4,5, and 8 pins. |
| Field Goal | Ball passes through a split without hitting either pin |
| Gripper/Squeezer | Someone who holds on to the ball with excessive force |
| Mother-in-Law | A pin standing behind another pin |
| Picket Fence | Leaving the 1,2,4,and 7 pins |
| Poodle | Gutter ball |
| Pumpkin | A ball with no spin |
| Sandwich Game | Scoring 200 by alternating strikes and spares |
| Six Pack | Six strikes in a row |
| Sour Apple | A weak ball |
| Splasher | A strike in which the pins fall quickly |
| Tumbler | A strike in which the pins seem to fall individually |
| Turkey | Three strikes in a row |
| Woolworth | A 5-10 split (Get it? Five and Dime? ar har har har) |