美国国家公共电台 NPR Not Just Child's Play: World Tiddlywinks Champions Reclaim Their Glory

 

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

The World Championship of Tiddlywinks is going on in Britain's University of Cambridge this weekend. Let's get ready to rumble³ - or at least to pot that wink¹.

(SOUNDBITE OF BILL CONTI'S "FANFARE⁴ FOR ROCKY")

SIMON: Carrying the hopes of an American team into the doubles championship are two winkers Sports Illustrated⁵ has called the Ali and Frazier of tiddlywinks - Larry Kahn and David Lockwood.

DAVID LOCKWOOD: Tiddlywinks is not what you did when 5 five years old. Tournament tiddlywinks is a fascinating combination of physical skill at the micro level and positional strategy, and the community of winkers is a wonderful thing.

SIMON: That's Dave Lockwood, who met Larry Kahn when they were MIT students in the 1970s and began to wink. Larry Kahn, the Ali of this daunting⁶ duo of winkers, has won 114 world and national tiddlywinks titles - the most in history. Dave "The Dragon" Lockwood, as he's called, is second with 41. They're playing for their sixth doubles title.

LOCKWOOD: We have been the world pairs champions before. We won it five times in a row in the '90s - last 21 years ago, so we're trying to reclaim⁷ the title 21 years after we last won it. Larry's got lots of titles, but I'm dropping in the ratings.

SIMON: Let's see how this works.

LARRY KAHN: Blue and red are always - are partners against green and yellow.

SIMON: We watched them practice recently in a suburban⁸ basement outside of Washington, D.C. They dress like suburban dads at a theme park - Dave Lockwood in a T-shirt, scarlet⁹ track pants and running shoes, Larry Kahn in shorts and sandals and, yes, worn with white socks. The winkers used a quarter-sized disc called a squidger to plink small, colorful discs called winks² that are about the size of a dime¹⁰ toward a cup that's about the size of a shot glass.

(SOUNDBITE OF POTTING)

LOCKWOOD: Wow.

SIMON: Tiddlywinks was patented in 1888 as a parlor¹¹ game for adults. And over decades, it was taken up by children. And students at Cambridge, Oxford¹² and MIT took over tiddlywinks in the mid-1950s, drawing contestants¹³ from the kind of math and engineering prodigies¹⁴ who probably didn't want to wring¹⁵ their heads playing football. The object of the game is to sink the most winks. That's called potting.

LOCKWOOD: It's basically two things - the pressure for the distance, and you got to cut the section of arc between in the cup.

SIMON: But players can try to block a pot with a maneuver¹⁶ called a squop - flicking¹⁷ their winks on to an opponent's.

David Lockwood has one of his red chips he's going to wink towards the cup. Oh, that's a beauty - just short of the cup. Kahn - Kahn covers Lockwood.

KAHN: In the line.

SIMON: That was a good shot, right?

KAHN: Well, good and lucky but mostly good.

(LAUGHTER)

SIMON: Ali and Frazier - I'm sorry - Kahn and Lockwood say their engineering background helped them understand the angles and probabilities of the game, even though some tiddlywinks terms sound like they're from the mouths of Winnie the Pooh and Piglet.

Larry, what's a piddle?

KAHN: Piddle is when you are on top of another wink and you choose - it's in relation to a pile, and you try and squeeze that wink out from under everything else. It's a very fairly gentle, delicate, high-precision shot.

SIMON: Before you make even gentle fun of egghead engineers playing a child's game, come to our website, see video of Dave Lockwood and Larry Kahn in action. Tiddlywinks is fun to watch. There's something lovely in the flight and tumble of a well-shot wink. The game is quicker than baseball, easier to follow than hockey, and if you want a beer, you don't have to pay $10. Just get one out of the fridge.

Tiddlywinks has really enriched your lives, hasn't it?

LOCKWOOD: Greatly. To have instant friends who do the same weird¹⁸ thing that I do has been an amazing addition to my life. It opened the world to me.

KAHN: Well, in some ways, it's really cool. I'm in the Guinness book of world records for having the most world wins and recognition among my peers. On the other hand, it doesn't make much of a difference. I mean, it doesn't improve your health.

SIMON: You nervous about going over and playing for the championship together in Cambridge?

KAHN: Not really.

LOCKWOOD: But I really want this.

SIMON: (Laughter).

(SOUNDBITE OF POTTING)

SIMON: Dave "The Dragon" Lockwood and Larry Kahn join us now from Cambridge on Skype. Gentlemen, what happened?

KAHN: We won. At the very end, Dave came through, potted three winks. We potted out and came from behind.

SIMON: Oh, that's terrific news. Good work, Dave. You potted three winks.

LOCKWOOD: Yeah, we were down 11-3 after two games and came back to win 27-22.

SIMON: Oh, that's terrific. Larry, I do think America has an important question for you this morning.

KAHN: OK.

SIMON: Did you wear socks with your sandals?

KAHN: Well, I wore socks but no sandals.

SIMON: Oh, OK (laughter). Larry Kahn and Dave Lockwood - the Ali and Frazier of tiddlywinks champions once again. Thanks so much for being with us, gentlemen.

KAHN: Thank you.

LOCKWOOD: Thanks, Scott.

1 wink   

n.眨眼，使眼色，瞬间；v.眨眼，使眼色，闪烁

参考例句：

• He tipped me the wink not to buy at that price.他眨眼暗示我按那个价格就不要买。
• The satellite disappeared in a wink.瞬息之间，那颗卫星就消失了。

2 winks   

v.使眼色( wink的第三人称单数 )；递眼色（表示友好或高兴等）；（指光）闪烁；闪亮

参考例句：

• I'll feel much better when I've had forty winks. 我打个盹就会感到好得多。
• The planes were little silver winks way out to the west. 飞机在西边老远的地方，看上去只是些很小的银色光点。 来自辞典例句

3 rumble   

n.隆隆声；吵嚷；v.隆隆响；低沉地说

参考例句：

• I hear the rumble of thunder in the distance.我听到远处雷声隆隆。
• We could tell from the rumble of the thunder that rain was coming.我们根据雷的轰隆声可断定，天要下雨了。

4 fanfare   

n.喇叭；号角之声；v.热闹地宣布

参考例句：

• The product was launched amid much fanfare worldwide.这个产品在世界各地隆重推出。
• A fanfare of trumpets heralded the arrival of the King.嘹亮的小号声宣告了国王驾到。

5 illustrated   

adj. 有插图的，列举的 动词illustrate的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• His lecture was illustrated with slides taken during the expedition. 他在讲演中使用了探险时拍摄到的幻灯片。
• The manufacturing Methods: Will be illustrated in the next chapter. 制作方法将在下一章说明。

6 daunting   

adj.使人畏缩的

参考例句：

• They were faced with the daunting task of restoring the house.他们面临着修复房子的艰巨任务。
• Starting a new job can be a daunting prospect.开始一项新工作有时会让人望而却步。

7 reclaim   

v.要求归还，收回；开垦

参考例句：

• I have tried to reclaim my money without success.我没能把钱取回来。
• You must present this ticket when you reclaim your luggage.当你要取回行李时，必须出示这张票子。

8 suburban   

adj.城郊的，在郊区的

参考例句：

• Suburban shopping centers were springing up all over America. 效区的商业中心在美国如雨后春笋般地兴起。
• There's a lot of good things about suburban living.郊区生活是有许多优点。

9 scarlet   

n.深红色，绯红色，红衣；adj.绯红色的

参考例句：

• The scarlet leaves of the maples contrast well with the dark green of the pines.深红的枫叶和暗绿的松树形成了明显的对比。
• The glowing clouds are growing slowly pale,scarlet,bright red,and then light red.天空的霞光渐渐地淡下去了，深红的颜色变成了绯红，绯红又变为浅红。

10 dime   

n.（指美国、加拿大的钱币）一角

参考例句：

• A dime is a tenth of a dollar.一角银币是十分之一美元。
• The liberty torch is on the back of the dime.自由火炬在一角硬币的反面。

11 parlor   

n.店铺，营业室；会客室，客厅

参考例句：

• She was lying on a small settee in the parlor.她躺在客厅的一张小长椅上。
• Is there a pizza parlor in the neighborhood?附近有没有比萨店？

12 Oxford   

n.牛津（英国城市）

参考例句：

• At present he has become a Professor of Chemistry at Oxford.他现在已是牛津大学的化学教授了。
• This is where the road to Oxford joins the road to London.这是去牛津的路与去伦敦的路的汇合处。

13 contestants   

n.竞争者，参赛者( contestant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The competition attracted over 500 contestants representing 8 different countries. 这次比赛吸引了代表8个不同国家的500多名参赛者。
• Two candidates are emerging as contestants for the presidency. 两位候选人最终成为总统职位竞争者。 来自《简明英汉词典》

14 prodigies   

n.奇才，天才（尤指神童）( prodigy的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• It'seldom happened that a third party ever witnessed any of these prodigies. 这类壮举发生的时候，难得有第三者在场目睹过。 来自辞典例句
• She is by no means inferior to other prodigies. 她绝不是不如其他神童。 来自互联网

15 wring   

n.扭绞；v.拧，绞出，扭

参考例句：

• My socks were so wet that I had to wring them.我的袜子很湿，我不得不拧干它们。
• I'll wring your neck if you don't behave!你要是不规矩，我就拧断你的脖子。

16 maneuver   

n.策略[pl.]演习；v.(巧妙)控制；用策略

参考例句：

• All the fighters landed safely on the airport after the military maneuver.在军事演习后，所有战斗机都安全降落在机场上。
• I did get her attention with this maneuver.我用这个策略确实引起了她的注意。

17 flicking   

（尤指用手指或手快速地）轻击( flick的现在分词 )； （用…）轻挥； （快速地）按开关； 向…笑了一下（或瞥了一眼等）

参考例句：

• He helped her up before flicking the reins. 他帮她上马，之后挥动了缰绳。
• There's something flicking around my toes. 有什么东西老在叮我的脚指头。

18 weird   

adj.古怪的，离奇的；怪诞的，神秘而可怕的

参考例句：

• From his weird behaviour,he seems a bit of an oddity.从他不寻常的行为看来，他好像有点怪。
• His weird clothes really gas me.他的怪衣裳简直笑死人。