Cheerleader Lingo Is Totally a Thing: How Many of These Words Do You Know?

If you're watching cheerleading competitions, or just watching cheer routines at a game, the flyer (or floater) is the person you have your eye on. And flying and floating is what these folks do when lifted or thrown in the air.

A jump sequence typically has to have both feet off the ground. And a jump has three parts, in this order: the prep/approach, the lift, and the landing.

The base holds flyers up in the air, and they (safely!) bring floaters and flyers down. The base also consists of the people on the bottom of a pyramid.

The sponge is one of the easier stunts. A flyer is in a sitting position, is pushed up, and then dropped back down by the bases.

In cheerleading competitions, having your hair teased and held up by hairspray in a big, beautiful ponytail is pretty normal. You just need to top it off with a big, beautiful bow.

Briefs are the matching bloomers that coordinate with your cheerleading skirt. Spankies, tights and lollipops are all other names for briefs--and you definitely don't call them panties.

This message is to the base! When a flyer is doing a stunt, you need to brace yourselves! It's important so that the flyer can do their thing up there--and safely.

"Attack the crowd" is not something you should do literally, of course. It's just a way to get people enthusiastic and involved about the cheering you're doing.

The double hook jump has your arms in a high V, with your front leg and back leg hooked to the same side. The double hook is known as a cheer sit because it's a position a cheerleader learns to use while sitting on the ground or the floor during a game.

The herkie is named after the founder of the National Cheerleaders Association, Lawrence Herkimer. With this jump, one leg is stretched out straight and the other leg is hooked to the side.

With the arabesque, many times a flyer is performing this stunt while being held up by the base. It's like your legs for a 90 degree angle--or a little bigger than that.

The banana stunt usually happens in one of two ways. You're doing a combo jump or you're getting up to a basket toss.

Buckets is a basic cheerleader move, and it gets its name because it looks like you're holding a bucket. This isn't to be confused with actual cheerleader buckets, which are usually fun buckets with bright and colorful decorations.

The Scorpion is an advanced stunt for a cheerleader. It requires strength and flexibility--especially to do the leg extension behind the head.

This move involves the flyer's base because they will be holding the straightened leg. They provide the stability for you to do this move.

As a flyer, when you tighten your muscles, you become lighter for your bases. Flyers should remain tense and tight while up in the air.

The Liberty stunt is a more advanced move for a cheerleader since it involves a lot of poise and strength to stand on one leg while the other is bent.. It was called Liberty because originally, the flyer would punch an arm in the air, holding it like the Statue of Liberty would.

Facials in cheerleading are not about spa treatments, but are moves that show personality--from your face. It's a way to engage the crowd and judges and amp up the enthusiasm. Another kind of facial would be sticking out your tongue.

The Deadman has a flyer falling forward or backward out of a stunt. The base should have a few people for this maneuver. The Deadman could also be a move to push the flyer back upright into another stunt.

So, what's the difference between the Cupie or the Awesome? A Cupie has the base's free hand on the hip while the awesome has the base's free hand up in a High V. This is a "one man" type of stunt, where one person alone acts as the base for a flyer.

Like many cheerleading terms, the Bow and Arrow is named that because the cheerleader takes on that shape. With the Bow and Arrow, the flyer stands on one leg and takes their opposite leg with the opposite arm and pulls it around their body, with the other arm usually pushed straight out (like an arrow).

The full-twisting layout is a gymnastics move, but you see it in cheerleading a lot. Whether it's a full-twisting layout or a double-twisting layout, you'll probably need to know other moves, like layouts, back handsprings and roundoffs first.

The Pike is a move that even beginner cheerleaders can perform. It gets more advanced and expert when the knees are locked straight, arms are out front and straight, pointed toward your toes.

The Table Top is a pyramid stunt with three levels. The top flyer stands on top of at least two other cheerleaders.

A rewind can look like someone hit the rewind button on a stunt. Many times, a flyer is doing some sort of reverse flip or stunt into another stunt. For example, a flyer could do a rewind into some kind of mount.

OK, for the record--no bribing judges is ever necessary. If you need to sell it, it just means to punch up the sass and attitude in your routine. It helps engaging judges and the audience.

The motions typically have to do with one's arms. And the motions can create letters with the body--and there isn't one that creates the letter "M" with one's arms.

The scale is an advanced stunt that requires flexibility and balance. The needle is similar to the scale, but you'd hold the extended leg with both hands behind you so your legs look straight as a needle.

This is a basic dismount position. The base members put one arm under the flyer's thighs and the other arm under her back. The flyer should be in a pike position in the cradle.

The dirty consists of three moves. First, a flyer is tossed into a laid out x-position (arms and legs stretched out to make the body look like an X). The flyer then lands on the base's back with their arms. Then the flyer passes the base's legs--typically to move into a transition skill like the scooper, where they will be pulled up to do something else.

The log roll, also known as the barrel roll, should have at least three bases and a flyer. The bases actually help the flyer to twist in the air when they toss.

Hit is a good word of encouragement here. Whoever is yelling at you wants you to hit your jumps on time and be in sync with your other teammates and the music.

This type of movement can be pretty fast. It's a quick feet-over-head motion without one's hands touching the ground, landing on one's feet. In succession, it can look like you're whipping your body around an imaginary horizontal axis.

Although this is a basic cheerleading move, to jump high enough and get the correct for takes time to learn. The legs should be in what's called a straddle split.

Whether you call it no-hands, chin chin or cry baby, this stunt has the foot resting under the flyer's chin when arms are in a High V. The flyer can transition in and out of similar stunts with this one, such as the Liberty or the Scorpion.