body English

An often involuntary or unconscious movement of the body to try and manipulate or influence the course of an object that is already in motion. I always find bowlers' body English humorous, as they contort their bodies to try to will the ball toward the pins.

Movements of the body that express a person's feelings, as in His body English tells us just how tired he is. This expression originated about 1900 in such sports as bowling and ice hockey, where a player tries to influence the path of a ball or puck by moving his body in a particular direction. (It was based on the earlier use of English to mean "spin imparted to a ball.")