Coming next Sunday is the biggest sporting event on the US calendar. A billion people worldwide watch the Super Bowl, the championship game of the US professional football league, and several billion dollars are bet on the game.

We would be derelict if we did not devote our week's theme to such a major event. Today we offer the first of a week's worth of terms from football. I will be curious whether these terms are familiar to our non-USn's.

end run - to bypass (an impediment) often by deceit or trickery (AHD). an evasive trick or maneuver (MW)
The term can be used as either a noun or a verb.

I view the term not as trickery, but as simply going around an obstacle rather than fighting to overcome it -- though that may of course disconcert those who would want to oppose.

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State motor vehicle agencies are working on a plan to create a national driver's license ... that could end-run civil rights and political opponents ... privacy advocates and politicians of wide-ranging persuasions ... see it as a de facto national identification card and a tool for extensive invasions of privacy.
By Dee Ann Divis and Nicholas M. Horrock, UPI, Foes fear states' end-run on privacy, Washington Times, April 18, 2002

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Originally posted by wordcrafter:
I view the term not as trickery...

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An end run does often involve trickery in football as well as in political and legal maneuvering. An end run may be accomplished with the opposition knowing full well what is happening, with only the brilliant blocking by the linemen keeping the runner from being creamed, but more likely some type of subterfuge is involved in an attempt to throw the opponents off-guard. Of course, it doesn't always work.

Tinman

You might be interested to learn that the term is meaningless in the UK (as, I suspect, will be most terms that relate to American football)

Richard English

Actually there's a good chance that I'll know most of these. The game that you know just as Football and we know as American Football went through a brief period of popularity over here a few years ago and I was a supporter of a team called the Birmingham Bulls. I've never been much of a sports fan but I used to go to watch most Sundays. By comparison to the transatlantic prototype even the best of the British teams were pretty inept and we had to watch not in the lovely stadiums of the NFL but - in the case of the Bulls - on a scrubby little field located near to Spaghetti Junction*.

The sport's popularity didn't last and wasn't helped by a Bizarre decision to have all the good players join one team (The London Monarchs I think they were called) and join a European League rather than playing in an English League.

My favorite team neam of the time was a juniour league team called the Shepton Mallet Wombats.


(* Spaghetti Junction is a motorway intersection near Birmingham. )

Purgamentum init, exit purgamentum

Read all about my travels around the world here.

Not all of us here in the states are football fanatics, either. I had no idea what an end run in football was.

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Originally posted by Kalleh:
I had no idea what an end run in football was.

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Here's M-W's definition of "end run" as it applies to football:

Main Entry: end run
Function: noun
Date: 1902

1 : a football play in which the ballcarrier attempts to run wide around the end of the line; specifically : SWEEP 3e.

AHD's definition:

Football. A play in which the ball carrier attempts to run around one end of the defensive line.

The OED defines it slightly different:

end run N. Amer., (a) in American football, an attempt by the ball-carrier to run round his own end (sense 3g) and towards the goal.

It also defines "end around", a term I don't remember hearing before:

end-around, (a) N. Amer. Football, an offensive running play in which an end (sense 3g) carries the ball behind his own team's line and round the opposite end.

It gives quotes from 1934 to 1983 for "end around", but none for "end run" (at least, not that I found).

I suspect both actions are now generally referred to as "end runs".

Of course, you have to know what "end (sense 3g)" refers to:

3g. In American and Canadian football, one stationed at the end of a line or team of players; a wing; the position occupied by such a player.

That brings us to "tight end". Any guesses?

I'm not a football fanatic, either, but I played it in high school, when I was too dumb to know better.

Tinman

political football – a problem or issue that is discussed among groups or persons without being settled

Wordcrafter comment: often with the sense that groups are keeping the issue unresolved to be used for political benefit. I am frankly surprised how widespread the term has become. Here are examples from the UK, Canada and India.

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I am increasingly intrigued by the psychology of those who claim to care about the poor of the world but then distort the historical record by suggesting the poor are getting poorer and everything is going backwards. This is not true. We will not improve the lives of the poor by using them as a political football. We must focus on their true situation and what needs to be done.
-- Speech by Rt Hon Clare Short, MP, Clare Short, the United Kingdom's Secretary for International Development, Oct. 19, 2001

If liberal leader Danny Graham intends to use the controversy over the Tory government’s use of funds from the Millennium Scholarship Foundation as a political football, he needs to be careful. He may well find himself thrown for a loss on the play.
-- Editorial, Halifax Daily News, Dec. 3, 2002

Even as the farmers of South Haryana are anxiously waiting for the construction of the SYL canal, the issue has become a political football for the politicians to gains mileage by criticising each other.
-- NCR Tribune (India), January 13, 2003

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What makes you think that this saying comes from the American version of football? The variants played in the UK have just as strong a claim; in fact, probably stronger, since we've played it longer.

In England they play football? I thought they play soccer.

No. We play football - you call it soccer to distinguish from America Football (which is a bit like Rugby).

And since we invented just about every sport there is, we have a right to name them!

Richard English

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I thought they play soccer.

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We play Association Football, Rugby Union Football, and Rugby League Football. A few teams even play American Football.

Arnie raises the challenge, "What makes you think that this saying comes from the American version of football?"
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In fairness, I admit that my logic was faulty -- which does not necessarily mean that my conclusion was faulty.

Note that the Halifax quote above refers to being "thrown for a loss on the play". Now, "thrown for a loss" and "the play" are each terms of American football, but not (I presume) of what the rest of the world calls football. Similarly, I found Swazi and Toronto references to "fumbling" a political football, and fumbling is a term pertaining to football only in (I presume) the American version. Based on that I concluded that 'political football' originated with reference to US football.

My logic was faulty. Those quotes show only that the speaker saying 'political football' thought of the term in the context of US football, not that the term arose in that context.

So where did the term arise? I've found at least some data, but will withhold it for now as a challenge our researchers on this board.

I know very little about sport but was forced to play Rugby Football at school. Fumbling was a term used then for poor ball handling.

In Rugby, of course, the ball is handled in much the same way as it is in American football (although not in ordinary football [soccer]).

Richard English

Perhaps it originated in Australia? Here's the phrase used in reference to Australian Rules Football.

punt - to cease doing something; give up, as in punt on the issue of ...
(A useful discussion in the computing-dictionary which is the final entry here.)

Interestingly, sources indicate that in Australian slang the term means the opposite, 'to attempt a difficult task'. I understand that the British meaning is 'to bet'.

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Congress should not continue to punt on the issue of quota-based management. Why should fishermen in the Gulf of Mexico and the Pacific Northwest be forced to participate in dangerous derby fisheries simply because Congress is afraid to tackle this difficult issue?
-- Massachusetts senator, John Kerry. per third-party report, Sept. 2000, on-line

We have decided entirely to punt on the issue of longterm solvency. Don't try to tell me the private sector is going to come up with wonderful solutions to all the problems, because they ain't, and we are going to end up with surpise on our face.
-- Rep. John D. Dingell, per 1998 on-line third-party report citing Amy Goldstein in Washington Post

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It's odd but in that entire dictionary.com entry, the actual meaning of this idiom is only partially captured.

In American football, the offensive team has four "downs" in which to move the ball 10 yards towards the opposing team's goal line. If the team travels, say, 9 yards and 2 1/2 feet in three downs, the team may elect to use that fourth down to try to gain the remaining six inches. On the other hand, if they have gained no ground (or, through penalties, have even lost ground) they will likely punt the ball to the other team who then will go on the offensive themselves.

With this in mind, we use the idiom "to punt" over here with not just a sense of giving up but with a sense of doing so out of failure to make significant measurable success in whatever it is one is talking about. If I were trying to visit all 50 states and managed to travel to 49 of them, "punting" wouldn't describe my action if I decided to give up on the project. If, however, at the age of 92 I had managed to see just New York, New Jersey, and West Virginia, I might well decide to punt that project and take up whittling!

'Football' has long been used in this figurative sense. OED lists examples going back to 1532, and though the earliest seems rather doubtful, the one from c1600 seems apt: "D am the verye foote-ball of the starres." It seems clear that this usage is too early to be of US origin.

However, the term 'political football' is another matter. For it OED gives three cites, all recent (1971, 1975 and 1977), respectively from the Johannesburg Financial Mail, the Australasian Express, and New Scientist (a UK magazine). It seems odd that OED lacks US cites, though most uses on the web are in the US. And it seems odd that a term birthed in South Africa, of all places, would so quickly become so widely disseminated.

OED is simply wrong. The web reveals that 'political football' appeared in a U.S. political cartoon in Judge magazine during the term of President Harrison, 1889 to 1893. The cartoon's caption:

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Political Football. President Harrison – "What can I do when both parties insist on kicking?"

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Excellent point, CJ.

quarterback - to lead or direct the operations of
(After the name of a particular position in football, the quarterback. Use as a verb dates from the late 1940's.)

I view this definition, from AHD, as superior to M-W's in that it implies a more active role. However, AHD says this use is 'slang'; MW does not; and in this I think M-W is correct.

The word in recent use, regarding efforts to control asbestos litigation:

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The offensive team is now in danger of getting tangled up in its own legs. Insurers, auto companies, chemical firms and former asbestos makers all have their own idea about legislation. Urgently needed is strong quarterbacking from the White House to get these players moving downfield in concerted fashion.
--Wall Street Journal, January 16, 2003

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Here in the UK, as mentioned, to punt generally means to have a bet. A punter is a derogatory term for someone making a bet, and by extension a customer. "Mug" is a good synonym for this sense of the word.

By extension, "having a punt on" something is seen as a last-chance opportunity to do it, even if a successful outcome is unlikely, and is thus close to the Australian sense.

Wordnerd, the significance of your post is amazing! Our word forum actually found a mistake in OED. Good work! I think we should let them know.

Ref Quarterback

If any woman should want to inspire her husband to begin divorce proceedings against her, the quickest way is to interrupt his enjoyment of a crucial moment of a major game by asking "How long does a player have to be a quarterback before they make him a halfback?"

Works every time.

British wives are programmed to demand detailed explanation of the "offside rule" at any or all crucial moments of a football (soccer) match.

No matter how many times this is explained, they are unable to make sense of it.

I think that this is linked to their inability to drive and park cars properly - there are some things that are obviously beyond their capabilities.

Hail Mary pass - a desperate, last-minute attempt to save a losing situtation.

My definition. This meaning, apart from the literal football use, is not included in any dictionary I have found, but seems reasonably accepted in the media. Coined December 28, 1975 by quarterback Roger Staubach.

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Why doesn't Al Gore just commit suicide right now? In a desperate Hail Mary pass to save his inert candidacy, his flacks are wildly spreading rumors about some rather mundane infractions George W. Bush committed decades ago.
--Columnist Anne Coulter, Nov. 6, 2000

Gateway, the maker of low-end PC clones, is running ads for its new Profile 4 computers comparing them -- gasp -- to the new flat-panel iMac. Gateway is that losing team, and the Profile is its Hail Mary pass. ... And I'm sure Apple is laughing all the way to the bank.
-- Bob Levitus, Houston Chronicle, Sept. 13, 2002

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moving the goal posts - changing the rules in the middle of the game; changing what is required to win

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The environmentalists kept moving the goal posts farther and farther back. Nothing was ever good enough for them.
-- Ron Arnold, of the Center for the Defense of Free Enterprise, quoted in the San Francisco Chronicle, June 4, 1995

Vietnam has received a reputation among some investors and business people as the "land of the moving goal posts," making it difficult for businesses to score successes.
- William H. Carlile, Arizona Republic, April 17, 1996

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"Moving the goal posts" is the only term I have yet understood.

Incidentally, the expression "to punt" also has a meaning in Rugby football (rugger) as I recall from the days when I was forced to play the game.

Rugby balls are oval, (as are, I believe, American footballs). They cannot thus be rolled and and kicked with any accuracy. To punt the ball means to drop and, just before it reaches the ground, to kick it.

Of course, since I couldn't then, and cannot now, kick, throw or otherwise project any ball, of any size, shape or type, in any direction that might approxiamte to that in which I wanted it to go, the whole concept is quite academic so far as I am concerned.

Richard English

Again, does moving the goal posts really come from the American version of football?

Monday morning quarterback - a secondguesser; one who criticizes or passes judgment from a position of hindsight.

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I am terribly anxious to state the facts as they were, from my viewpoint - not from someone else’s - what I saw and what I acted on, not as a Monday-morning Quarterback. I want to state conditions as they were then ... and the steps that were taken to meet the situation [after North Korea invaded South Korea].
-- President Harry S Truman, Presidential memoirs interview, February 16, 1955

[Question] Do you believe that the U.S. missed a chance prior to Sept. 11 to negotiate successfully with the Taliban?
Bergen: It's an interesting question. I think both the United States' position and the Taliban's position ... had hardened into positions reminiscent of trench warfare in World War I -- neither side was going to give an inch. ... but it's easy to Monday-morning quarterback all these decisions after the fact.
-- CNN analyst Peter L. Bergen, interviewed Feb. 11, 2002 in Washington Post

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In this thread we touched on soccer, rugby and football. Here is a comic from Sunday's paper that brings it all together:

As I continue through Bill Bryson's book Made in America (1994), I find him claiming that although "football has spawned a vast internal vocabulary ... surprisingly few football terms have entered mainstream English." Bryson offers only four - none of which duplicate what we've seen here. So its fascinating to see so many more here.

Here are the further terms that Bryson's notes, and their definitions:

blindside: as a verb: To catch or take unawares, especially with harmful or detrimental results: "The recent recession, with its wave of corporate cost-cutting, blind-sided many lawyers" (Aric Press)
cheap shot: An unfair or unsporting verbal attack that takes unfair advantage of a known weakness of the target
game plan: A strategy for achieving an objective
jock: An athlete. (etymology, per Bryson: from jockstrap, which in turn traces back to 16th century English slang jock = penis)

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OED is simply wrong. The web reveals that 'political football' appeared in a U.S. political cartoon in Judge magazine during the term of President Harrison, 1889 to 1893. The cartoon's caption:

It was in this thread where we identified the first error in the OED, and we've discussed others since.

I am not sure that you'd call this an error per se, but it seems to be an intentional (at least according to Nathan Bierma, author of "On Language" in the Chicago Tribune and Anatoly Liberman, professor of medieval literature and linguistics at the University of Minnesota and author of "Word Origins and How We Know Them: Etymology for Everyone.")

Rebecca Solnit has a new volume of essays that explore the theme of getting lost and, more broadly, abandoning certainty: "A Field Guide to Getting Lost." She has been praised for the book, and especially for her incorporation of the etymology of the word "lost." "The word `lost,'" Solnit says, "comes from the Old Norse `los,' meaning the disbanding of an army, and this origin suggests soldiers falling out of formation to go home, a truce with the wide world. I worry now that many people never disband their armies, never go beyond what they know."

Yet, Bierma and Liberman disagree on this etymology, though they theorize that it came from the "obtuse" discussion in the OED. Bierma says, "It says the verb 'lose' (of which 'lost' is a participle) came from the Old English 'losian,' the verb form of the Old English noun 'los,' which meant 'destruction.' Then the OED fudges a bit. It says this Old English word 'corresponds' to the Old Norse word 'los,' which meant 'breaking up of the ranks of an army.'"

Bierma and Liberman say the OED's whole case hinges on this word "corresponds." Liberman says that's a coy way of hiding one's ignorance. They say that while both Old Norse and the Old English words were dervived from the same root, neither borrowed from the other.

Apparently the English word "los" disappeared from texts until the 14th century. Liberman says this makes us wonder whether the 14th century entry were a continuation of the ancient word or a new coincidental formation. He says that no one, including the OED, knows that answer. Both words are "distant relatives," they say (from "leu" in the ancient language of Indo-European), but the English word has nothing to do with 'disbanding of armies.' And our "lost" comes from the English word, not the Norse one.

Again...not a real error, but an interesting take on the OED's attempt to equate "lost" with the Old Norse etymology. I wonder if there are other linguists who disagree with Bierma and Liberman.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Kalleh,