It is interesting to contemplate how a language grows. For example, let’s look at what the game of baseball contributed to the English language.
As baseball consolidated its identity, it developed a vocabulary of its own, creating specific words and phrases to describe the particulars of the game.
Gradually, many of these phrases slid into common usage and were graphic enough to become metaphors, slowly losing their connection to their origin.
In baseball terminology, the plate refers to home plate, which is the place where the batter stands when hitting the ball.
To Step Up to the Plate
To step up to the plate is to be responsible, to rise to the occasion, to take on a challenge.
In baseball terminology, a hit occurs when a batter hits the ball and successfully reaches first base.
A Hit or Miss
In baseball terminology, a base refers to a square marker, made of canvas, that is placed at each of the four corners of the diamond-shaped baseball infield.
To Touch Base
Off Base
When something is off base, it means that it is slightly off center, possibly a bit incorrect or unrefined.
To Cover Your Bases
To Get to First Base
Getting to first base means achieving that first milestone, or successfully beginning a relationship with someone.
In baseball terminology, the word ball can have two separate meanings: the hard physical baseball, and a type of pitch which is thrown by a pitcher.
For example: “My employer really threw me a curve ball when she asked me to share my office with a coworker.”
To Give a Ballpark Figure
To Be on The Ball
To be on the ball is to be alert, to pay attention, to have knowledge.
For example: “You have to be on the ball if you want to participate in their discussion.”
To Play Hardball
To play hardball is to be tough, aggressive, to be competitive, to be ruthless.
For example: “The landlord was playing hardball with her tenants, charging them for every hole in the wall and chip in the paint.”
In baseball terminology, the word bat describes a metal or wooden club that is used to hit the ball after a pitcher has thrown it.
Right Off the Bat
Right off the bat means immediately, from the very start, from the first, instantly.
To Bat a Thousand
For example: “We were batting a thousand when we went out for dinner and also arrived at the movie in time to see the previews.”
In baseball terminology, a home run occurs when the batter hits the ball in such a way that he can run around all four bases (first base, second base, third base, and home base), scoring a point for the team.
To Hit a Home Run
To hit a home run is to achieve something positive, to be completely successful.
In baseball terminology, the word strike refers to a ball that the pitcher has pitched but that the batter has failed to hit. To strike out means that the batter has received three strikes, and now loses his turn.
To Strike Out
In baseball terminology, if a ball is thrown from out of left field, it arrives from an area that is unexpected to the runner.
Out of Left Field:
When something appears from out of left field, it is surprising; it has arrived from an unexpected direction or at an unplanned time.
For example: “The hurricane descended on the town from out of left field.”
Conclusion:
You might not be a baseball fan: maybe you are not a sports fan at all. Never-the-less, you can appreciate the surprising impact that baseball has had, both on the playing field, and on the metaphors of our culture as well.
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