No, I’m not talking about those refreshing little sweets in a plastic container with a flip-top lid.
If you love horse racing and of a certain age you may remember seeing someone at the racecourse, probably standing on a box to hold an elevated position, wearing white gloves, hands moving with a flurry of activity.
The first time I ever saw a tic-tac man at the racecourse I was mesmerised. He seemed purposeful, intent on getting his message across, with haste, and the only people watching were the bookmakers (turf accountants) who quickly chalked up the betting odds for the next race.
My Dad said: ‘That’s the tic-tac man!’
There was me thinking whether I should buy the menthol, orange or sour-flavour.
Tic-tac is a traditional form of non-verbal communication used by bookmakers and gamblers at the horse racing track to convey betting odds, betting movements, without speaking.
I never see the tic-tac man say a word.
I guess with such skills he didn’t need to shout for all he was worth.
‘Six-to-four the jolly.’
He quickly pointed to his left ear.
Easy.
Tic-tac details information by using hand signals or gestures in a systematic way.
For example, I’m pretty sure the signal of touching your ear represents the betting odds 6/4 (ear’ole,). This comes from watching and listening to eccentric horse racing pundit and celebrity John McCririck, who sadly passed away in 2019.
However, this non verbal communication was used to not only detail the odds for a given horse but how much money a bookmaker was willing to take on the horse.
Other simple examples of tic-tac include:
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Odds of 9/4 (top of the head) both hands touching the top of the head
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Odds of 2/1 (bottle) right hand touches the nose
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Odds of 5/4 (wrist) the right hand is moved to touch the left wrist
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Odds of 33/1 (double carpet) both arms crossed with hands flat against the chest
In a newspaper article in 1937 Charles Adamson, a retired bookmaker, said he and his brother, Jack, invented the tic-tac system and used it as far back as 1888.
It was a common sight at race tracks in the 20th century but declined with the advent of mobile technology. In fact, in 1999 there were said to be just three practitioners working including Micky ‘Hokey’ Stuart.
There are no tic-tac practitioners left in this modern era of on-course bookmaking.
In essence, tic-tac was used as a secret language to communicate information at the racecourse so there was little disparity between bookmakers betting odds. This stopped punters from exploiting any difference in prices.
Also, tic-tac helped form the betting market. With the advent of betting exchanges, the forming of the market was eclipsed making not only tic-tac practitioners but odds compilers redundant. The betting exchanges formed their own market and these were used by bookmakers.
Although for the most part tic-tac has lost favour compared to modern technology, many of the terms still persist.
Personally, the use of tic-tac added a touch of magic to the racecourse experience. It was like a mix of Michael Jackson (gloves), Paul Daniels (magic) and Carol Vorderman (numbers) rolled into one.
The next time someone says ‘levels you devils’ they are simply conveying a horse priced even money (1/1) rather than sending you to hell. Quite often betting odds use Cockney rhyming slang or backslang.
Don’t get me started with Major Stevens. I’ll have a monkey on the nose.
You’ll never see me betting a bag of sand (grand).