In bridge parlance, any time you speak or pull a card from your bidding box, you are going to be making a call. Even in an informal game, your vocabulary is limited to fifteen words:
- Pass
- Double
- Redouble
- One – Seven
- Club
- Diamond
- Heart
- Spade
- Notrump
The ACBL, however, has added several words that alert opponents to unusual bidding
Alert — A warning to the opponents that the last call by your partner has been assigned a conventional message.
Announcement — A word or phrase that directly describes the meaning of partner’s call. This is part of the Alert process and is used in four cases: to describe partner’s range when opening 1NT (such as 15-17 or 16-18 high-card points); when the partnership uses a transfer bid following an notrump opening; when the partnership uses a forcing 1NT response; when an opening bid in a minor suit could be short (fewer than three cards).
