Do you know your eddy from your eggbeater? Or your spike from your penhold? With the Olympics just round the corner, now’s the perfect time to gen up on some of the more unusual terms you’ll be hearing over the coming weeks.

Boccia: A Paralympic sport that tests muscle control and accuracy, demanding extreme skill and concentration.

Copper Box: With a name true to its distinctive exterior, this is the Olympic venue for Handball, Goalball and the Fencing discipline of Modern Pentathlon.

Eddy: Murphy? Izzard? No, it’s the term for a white water feature, downstream from an obstacle in Canoe Slalom.

Eggbeater: It will probably be some time before omelette-making gets recognised as an Olympic sport. In the meantime, in Synchronised Swimming, an eggbeater is a powerful way of treading water that allows swimmers to perform arm movements while staying afloat.

Kake: Given Judo’s Japanese origins, we have a feeling it’s not pronounced like ‘cake’… This is the finishing powerful execution of a throw.

Penhold: An Ink favourite… in Table Tennis, this is a special grip where the racket is held as if it were a pen.

Sabre: One of the three Fencing swords. Fencers usually score hits with the edge of the weapon on a target area limited to anywhere above the waist – because it was once considered ungentlemanly to hit an opponent’s horse!

Snatch: Undoubtedly our top Weightlifting move. It’s when the bar is lifted from the floor to above the head in one movement. By contrast, the ‘clean and jerk’ is a two-stage action – the bar is first brought up to the shoulders before being jerked over the head.

Spike: Not as painful as it sounds. In fact, to ‘spike’ means to smash the ball overarm into your opponent's court during a game of Beach Volleyball.

If you’re feeling inspired to learn about more weird and wonderful Olympic language, check out the jargon buster listed under each sport at London 2012. And if you’re after some medal-worthy words of your own, just get in touch on 01225 731 373 or send us an email.