The origin of the word puck is from the Celtic game of hurley, where it means “striking the ball with the stick.”
A “puck-in” after a foul is the act of sending the ball back into play from the sidelines.
Since a ball is unmanageable on ice, Nova Scotians and Quebeckers started using a flat wooden puck instead.
Their solution was replaced in 1886 in Ontario by a field hockey rubber ball with the top and bottom cut off.
Today, a hockey puck is a vulcanized hard-rubber disc, one inch thick, three inches in diameter, and weighing between 5.5 and 6 ounces.
In Ireland, to “puck” someone means to strike him.
A puck bird is a robin-sized bird that dives down on goats and strikes them on the back with its beak.
