a coined expression meaning to announce or make known exactly and precisely what is to be done. The
phrase comes from the
game of pocket billiards where a
series of numbered balls are placed on a specially constructed, heavy rectangular table
having six pockets. One pocket is located at each
corner of the table with two in the middle of the respective sides. Using a leather-tipped
cue stick the player
strikes a white
ball which in
turn hits one of the numbered balls into the pockets. There are many
different types of games played in pocket billiards but in one of them, the player is required to announce the
ball he intends to
hit, and into which pocket it will go (termed "
calling your
shot"). Expert players are largely distinguished by consistently
executing the
shot they have called.
what will happen or is happening. From the
game of billiards, a
game played with a leather-tipped
stick and various
numbers of balls on an oblong, cloth-covered table with raised, cushioned edges. The player is required to call the
ball he intends to pocket (
knock into one of the pockets or pouches at the sides and corners of a billiard table), and the pocket into which he intends to make his
play.