WORD PLAY

Oche

What is it?

Pronounced ‘ockey’, it’s a term in darts for the toe-line, behind which the thrower must stand. For steel-tipped darts, it’s seven feet, nine and a quarter inches from the face of the dartboard, measured horizontally; for soft-tipped darts, it’s eight feet.

Why is it important?

It’s the first thing to be aware of when you’re playing; and the first thing you’ll be conned on if you look even the slightest bit uncertain. It’s also what makes darts so addictive: it’s just the right distance to challenge, but not dispirit, a thrower.

What’s the origin?

No one knows. What’s more, ‘oche’ wasn’t used till the 1970s! The earliest instances – from the 1930s – spelt it ‘hockey’. One theory is that it derives from the Old English word ‘hocken’, to spit, from the spitting competitions in English public houses.

Are there other origin stories?

There is this curious yarn about S. Hockey and Sons, an English brewery whose crates were apparently just the right size with which to mark out the distance. The Brewery History Society, however, has scotched the theory, saying no such brewery existed.