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Noting that our board has enjoyed talking about the current baseball playoff's in the USA (thanks, Kalleh), we'll devote this week to words from baseball. Perhaps readers can tell us which of these terms are part of the vernacular outside the USA. goose egg – zero, nothing; especially : a score of zero in a game or contest Wordcrafter note: I would add that the term, in non-baseball use, implies zero results despite effort. [first attested 1866 in baseball slang; from the numeral on a scoreboard, shaped like a large goose egg.] quote:(Question: what is the phrase "in tough to capture" in the latter quotation?) | ||
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A baseball playoff's what, pray. Its goose egg? Which term means, in the UK, an ovoid part of the reproductive mechanism of a large, often domesticated, avian biped. Richard English | |||
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quote: A "baseball playoff's" is where the vendors in the stands, instead of serving Budweiser, sell apple's. (I noticed the misapplied apostrophe in my Wordcraft word-of-the-day email before noon on Monday and just knew I wouldn't be able to beat R.E. to the punch!) | |||
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The equivalent phrase in cricket this side of the pond is "duck egg", or, more frequently, just "duck". It applies to an individual batsman who fails to score, not to the team score. | |||
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Anyone naive enough to invite me to participate in a discussion of baseball would have two strikes against him already and would be coming from way out in left field. | |||
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Well, Jerry, you seem to be in the majority here on that! | |||
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quote: Oh, I don't know, Jerry. I think baseball is kind of...homey. Heh. | |||
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Oops. Would you believe the apostrophe was a deliberate error to see if you were reading? No, I didn't think so. charley horse - a muscle cramp, esp. in the upper leg, from a muscular strain or a blow [Originally baseball slang, c.1888; origin unknown, perhaps from somebody's long-forgotten lame racehorse. Or perhaps from pitcher Charley Radbourne, nicknamed Old Hoss. At least one theorist speculates that it may trace to the constables, or Charleys, of 17th century England, but I've not seen discussion.] The term has moved beyond slang: information is that as far back as 1946 and article published in the respected Journal of the American Medical Association was titled Treatment of the Charley Horse, and not Treatment of Injury to Quadriceps Femoris. | |||
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I seem to have great difficulty posting today. I have written this reply three times now! quote:Well, I would....especially since you so kindly mentioned my name in the introduction of this thread! I (we) often am thinking way ahead of my writing and make mistakes here.  WinterBranch, I agree with you about baseball being homey. What is the quote? God, mom, apple pie and baseball.... I found some fun baseball quotes. | |||
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Following the goose and the horse, one more animal term from baseball: cat-bird seat – a position of power or prominence. Used in the phrase "in the catbird seat". This is a regionalism from the US south, where the catbird is native. Sportscaster Red Barber often used the phrase in announcing the games of the Brooklyn Dodgers, and it was irritatingly interjected by the Dodger fan who was a character in James Thurber's story titled "The Catbird Seat". Barber and Thurber thus brought the term into more common vernacular. [I understand that in Las Vegas gambling, the "catbird seat" in a card game is the seat immediately to the right of the dealer.] quote: | |||
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quote: I've never heard the phrase "in tough" before, but I would guess it would be similar in meaning to our phrase "hard put". (AHD) defines "hard put" as "Undergoing great difficulty: Under the circumstances, he was hard put to explain himself. WordNet (same site - dictionary.com) says that "hard put" can mean " facing or experiencing financial trouble or difficulty", and gives as synonyms "distressed", "hard-pressed", "in a bad way", "in trouble". "Would be in tough" may be short for "would have a tough time" or "be in a tough spot". Tinman [This message was edited by tinman on Tue Oct 14th, 2003 at 23:53.] | |||
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The definitions I find are inadequate; these come from my own pen. ballpark - adj: approximate (used of quantity; you would never say, for example, "That is a ballpark copy of Da Vinci's painting.") ballpark - noun: the approximate range of ballpark figure - an approximation; typically an initial or early approximation quote: | |||
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The definitions I find are inadequate; these come from my own pen. ballpark - adj: approximate (used of quantity; you would never say, for example, "That is a ballpark copy of Da Vinci's painting.") ballpark - noun: the approximate range of ballpark figure - an approximation; typically an initial or early approximation quote: | |||
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rain check – an assurance that an offer, not accepted now, will be repeated later (esp., a seller's commitment to sell an out-of-stock item at the advertised price as soon as it becomes available) So says the dictionary. But I would suggest that the term more generally means (without regard to any "offer") "a deferral," as in the British examples below. [The phrase originated (1884) with the meaning of "tickets to rained-out baseball games."] quote: | |||
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It's interesting that "raincheck" is not used in its literal meaning over here, but we have picked up the figurative use, and, as shown by the examples posted by wordcrafter, it is even used in our parliament. | |||
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quote: Well, no, not quite. The literal sense would be an actual raincheck, like that offer to purchase an item when it came back into stock. A figurative use would be the logical extension of this as in He: Like to go out for a drink? She: I have to work late. Let me take a raincheck. What Parliament has done is use "raincheck" in place of the phrase "but let me get back to you on that" which is not the same thing. Of course, English being what it is, words and phrases evolve and take on new meanings all the time but this one grates. What was it that Humpty Dumpty had to say on this subject? B.H. could recite it from memory I'm sure but I'm too lazy at the moment to google it up. | |||
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quote: I could, but I shalln't. I wouldn't want to be thought of as some kind of monomaniac.  Glaubt es mir - das Geheimnis, um die größte Fruchtbarkeit und den größten Genuß vom Dasein einzuernten, heisst: gefährlich leben. - Friedrich Nietzsche Read all about my travels around the world here. Read even more of my travel writing and poems on my weblog. | |||
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quote: This is the first time I ever saw "shalln't." "Shan't" is the form I'm used to seeing. But then, I don't get out much, so I shan't say I'm an authority. Do you say "willn't" or "won't" ?? [This message was edited by jerry thomas on Fri Oct 17th, 2003 at 16:19.] | |||
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hot stove league – informal speculation among devotees of a sport or other narrow activity, during the activity's off-season, of what the future holds [Imagine the old-timers of 1890 gathered in the country store of a winter afternoon, warmed by the pot-bellied stove, whiling away the hours in talk.] The above definition is my own, for I disagree a bit with the sole on-line dictionary that defines this term. There it is defined as "devotees of a sport, esp. baseball, who meet for off-season talks." To me the term means the discussion, not the devotees, and it needn't concern a sport. Here are three non-sport examples: quote: | |||
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quote: I was using it deliberately because it was one of the forms used by Lewis Carroll. (It depends on whic edition you are reading !) "Shan't" is the preferred modern form. Glaubt es mir - das Geheimnis, um die größte Fruchtbarkeit und den größten Genuß vom Dasein einzuernten, heisst: gefährlich leben. - Friedrich Nietzsche Read all about my travels around the world here. Read even more of my travel writing and poems on my weblog. | |||
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switch-hitter[/b] - baseball - one able to bat either right-handed or left-handed; "going both ways" slang, by extension - a bisexual person usage found, but not in dictionaries - person or software able to perform well at any of two or more functions Exemplifying the last usage: [QUOTE]Buffalo Philharmonic has witnessed the keen achievements of one of Buffalo's native sons in the person of Salvatore Andolina, who is now the Orchestra's switch-hitter in his permanent position as clarinetist, bass clarinetist and saxophonist. - website of Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra [M]any of those testifying in the Arthur Andersen trial have not always danced with the one that brung 'em. From star government witness David Duncan equivocating on when he knew he had criminal intent, to defense witnesses saying they saw unprecedented shredding by Enron auditors, just about every witness has been up for grabs. Certainly, the testimony of witnesses can backfi | |||
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quote: In England we have cricketing metaphor for bisexual people. We say that someone who is bisexual "bats for both sides". Glaubt es mir - das Geheimnis, um die größte Fruchtbarkeit und den größten Genuß vom Dasein einzuernten, heisst: gefährlich leben. - Friedrich Nietzsche Read all about my travels around the world here. Read even more of my travel writing and poems on my weblog. | |||
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I understand that P G Wodehouse (and how come none of his books were in the big read top 100?) was very fond of cricket (indeed his early books about Psmith were all involved with the game). However, when he started to travel to the USA and to write for that audience, he changed his sporting stories to those related to golf. His reasoning was that, while the British would understand about golf, the Americans would never understand about cricket! Richard English | |||
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quote: I received the following from my a dear friend who is also a logophile. He lurks on our board every so often and has a very fine mind regarding words and language. He sent me this and gave me permission to post it: "Both Thurber and Red Barber were completely ignorant about 'catbird seat'. The behaviour described is that of a mockingbird, which does indeed perch on top of poles and on telephone or other wires, on the lookout for flying insects on which it feeds. It moves in an aggressive manner, thrashing its tail up and down. When it has a nest with young, it will drive crows and squirrels, and even cats, away by harrassing them and threatening to attack them from the rear." "But, the catbird is very timid, shy, and retiring, and hides most of the time. It never perches on high places in full view. I repeat, Thurber and Red Barber were ornithological ignorami, and have managed to deceive thousands of sports fans for so many years that now there is no hope of getting anybody to listen to the truth." I confess to being ignorant on the subject of "catbirds", but I will say that I trust my source. | |||
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I ran across this on the Word Detective (fourth entry). He recommended Paul Dickson's 1999 New Dickson Baseball Dictionary, with "zillions" of baseball terms, their origins and meanings. The full title is The New Dickson Baseball Dictionary: A Cyclopedic Reference to More Than 7,000 Words, Names, Phrases, and Slang Expressions That Define the Game, Its Heritage, Culture, and Variations. He has written other baseball dictionaries since then. The two I know of (through Books In Print) are The Dickson Baseball Dictionary: 5000 Terms Used by Players, the Press and People Who Love the Game (what happened to the other 2000?) and The Hidden Language of Baseball: How Signs and Sign Stealing Have Influenced the Course of Our National Pastime. Tinman | |||
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Deek is a baseball word, Shu says, but I can't find what it means. I came across it in the newspaper, and Shu says he has never seen it used this way: "Did Pierzynksi, as they say in baseball, 'deek' the umpire into a bad call?" The only places where I can find it defined is in Phrontistry, which defines it as, "look at; see" or A Dictionary of Slang (UK) which defines it as, "a look; a glance."This message has been edited. Last edited by: Kalleh, | |||
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Paul Dickson (New Dickson Baseball Dictionary, 1999) says that deek (or deke) is short for decoy. "The term is long established in hockey for pulling the goaltender out of position. It also has a long football application. It began to find wide baseball application about 1990." AHD: Online Etymology dictionary:
Hickok Sports Glossaries:
OED Online:
TinmanThis message has been edited. Last edited by: tinman, | |||
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Thanks, Tinman! It surely makes sense in how it was used in the newspaper. | |||
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Usually a deke is a physical movement. You shift to the left, the defender follows, and then you shift back to the right, getting by the defender before he can recover. This is how it is used in Football. You can't use the word deke to describe Pierzynski getting the call, you would have to use faked, or something similar. | |||
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