Marco Polo

Rory and Lane call out to each other so that Rory can find Lane among the clutter of the overstocked antique store. Marco Polo is a game of tag played in a swimming pool which is similar to blind man’s buff. The player who is “It” closes their eyes and shouts “Marco!”, while attempting to find the other players by their voices, as they respond with “Polo!”. It is not known why the game uses the name of the explorer Marco Polo, and it apparently has no connection with the game of water polo. The game dates to perhaps the 1960s.

Run interference

LORELAI: Will you help me push other people out of the way if they’re going for my size [at the shoe sale]?
RORY: I’ll even run interference for you.

To run interference is a term from American football or gridiron, meaning to legally block opponents in order to create a clear path for the ball carrier. As as idiom, it means to help someone while they perform a task without directly intervening, such as deflecting attention away from them so they can work in peace. Rory may be literally planning to block people at the shoe sale though, giving Lorelai a clear path to the sales desk.

“Your corner”

LORELAI: Oh no! Drella, to your corner now [Drella leaves]

Telling someone to go to their corner means that they should shut up or go away. The saying comes from boxing, when a fighter retires to their corner during rounds.

“A good walk spoiled”

RICHARD: Now, what do you know about golf?
RORY: That it’s a good walk spoiled?

“Golf is a good walk spoiled” is a humorous quote commonly attributed to Mark Twain, who almost certainly did not actually say that. The source of the quote cannot be identified.

Tiger Woods

EMILY: [gives Rory a hat] Here you go. Now you look just like Tiger Woods.
RORY: Wow, that’s some hat.

Eldrick “Tiger” Woods (born 1975) is a professional American golfer and among the most successful of all time. He became the World #1 in 1997, less than a year after turning professional.

I can find no instances of Tiger Woods ever wearing a woolly hat such as the one Emily gives Rory, and clearly it’s going to take much more than a hat to make Rory look anything like Woods.

Quarters

SOOKIE: Oh my God, today was Rory’s first day!
LORELAI: Yes, and I was supposed to look together and fabulous, and not like I’d been up all night playing quarters.

Quarters is a drinking game where people toss quarters (25 cent coins) so that they land in a particular place, usually a glass.

Rodeo

LORELAI: [sees Rory looking at her outfit] What?
RORY: Nothing. I just didn’t know the rodeo was in town.

A rodeo is a competitive sporting event based on cattle herding, testing skills in horse riding and handling livestock. The word rodeo (Spanish for “round up”) comes from Latin America, and was adopted by North American cowboys in the 19^th century. Rodeos are particularly popular in the American west, as well as in Canada, Mexico, Australia and New Zealand.

Flo-Jo

[Rory starts walking quickly down the street, and Lorelai follows her.]
LORELAI: Oh, you’re gonna have to walk faster than that. You’re gonna have to turn into friggin’ Flo-Jo to get away from me.

Flo-Jo was the name given by the press to American track and field athlete Florence Griffith Joyner (1959-1998), who won gold and silver medals for running at the 1984 and 1988 Olympic Games. She is considered to be the fastest woman of all time.

Bridge

Lorelai and Emily

When Lorelai visits her parents, she makes conversation by asking about her mother’s bridge club. Contract bridge is a complicated card game played by two teams of two against each other, a variant of the older card game whist. The most common form in the United States is duplicate bridge, and it’s a card game which is more commonly played among older people. It is a game of skill involving strategy and tactics, which seems in line with Emily’s character: in fact she is just about to outplay her own daughter.