The most interesting aspect of Ross Smith’s 2011 Colorado Film School student project, Pool Shark Precepts, has nothing to do with the plot, dialogue, or acting, all of which are pretty unimpressive. Rather, the most interesting aspect is the unusual selection of the word “precept” in the title.
As any good SAT student knows, a “precept” is a “procedural directive or rule,” or more generally, a rule that helps one decide how to behave. Dating from the late 14th century, “precept” is hardly a common word. In fact, on Wordcount.org, which ranks the frequency of word use on the web, “precept” is #31,841 out of 86,800, just behind “webbs” and just ahead of “machynlleth.”
In fact, if Google is any indication, “precept” is waning in colloquial popularity. As the Google NGram chart below shows, back in 1900, the word was almost three times as common in books as words such as “billiards” or “hustler.” Today, that gap has closed significantly.
More revealing is a simple Google search. “Hustler” has 36 million search results, a whopping six times the number there are for “precept.” “Billiards” shows up in almost eight times as many search results.
Alas, the unfortunate truth is that “precept” is more likely to find a home on a standardized exam, as the scholarly minds at Kaplan know in producing the Top GRE Vocabulary List, which includes “precept,” than in any billiards movie. (Or any film for that matter: a quick IMDB search revealed zero titles using the word “precept,” except Pool Shark Precepts.)
Nonetheless, Mr. Smith, in selecting a title for the 6-minute movie he wrote and directed, at least chose his words accurately, for the short film details, albeit unoriginally, the five rules that a young pool shark uses to survive and win cash from his unsuspecting opponents. That quintet of precepts includes:
- Don’t get greedy
- Let the target come to you
- Know when to back down
- Don’t drink
- See rule #1
The movie was shot at Rack ‘Em Billiards in Aurora, Colorado, and subsequently won Mr. Smith nominations for “Best Editing,” “Best Sound,” and “Best Production 2/16mm” at his school’s 2011 student spring show. The full movie is available to watch here.
But, at this point, I feel comfortable introducing my own precept: steer clear of any film that uses “precept” in its title.
