what is a turkey in bowling

In bowling, a turkey refers to when a player makes three strikes in a row. The term likely originated from bowling tournament prizes in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, where turkeys became common prizes, particularly around Thanksgiving in the United States. At some point, one tournament decided to give away a turkey to people who managed to bowl three strikes in a row, and this practice spread and eventually embedded itself in common bowling vernacular. Today, bowling a turkey is not as rare as it once was, and new names have been developed to account for the strike-bloat, though usage of these terms isn’t nearly as widespread as with a turkey.