In this video from Idioms.Online, I'm going to present 15 E English Sports Idioms.
As important as sports and athletics are to the world's cultures, it is probably no surprise
that many of our metaphors and figurative language comes from sports.
Some of the most common idioms in the English language relate to sports in some way.
Most of the time, that means they originated in sports but others can be related to sports
in some nondirect way.
So, here are 15 English sports idioms from Idioms Online, with their meanings and sentence
examples.
This first group of idioms comes from Horse Racing.
A Shoo-in: A shoo-in is something or someone who is certain or very likely to win.
Example: “The Republican candidate is a shoo-in to win the race for Governor.”
Although often misspelled with an s-h-o-e, this idiom has nothing to do with shoes.
Instead, it comes from the act of 'shoo-ing.'
For example, we often “shoo away” flies or birds.
The word shoo comes from a German word which means to drive away.
The term shoo-in comes from horse racing during the late 1800s to early 1900s.
It has to do with fixed races.
A shoo-in involved a group of racers betting on a horse that was not very likely to win
and so was given long odds.
Then, during the race, the riders would hold their own horses back and spur the weaker
horse through the finish line.
The notion of riders “shooing in” a horse to the finish line gave rise to the slang
term for such cheating.
Since such a horse was “sure to win,” the expression passed into general use, alluding
to anyone or anything sure to be victorious.
Dark Horse: A dark horse is a person, in regards to a certain field, sport, political race
etc., whose experience and abilities are unknown but who could unexpectedly win or achieve
success over others; an unknown and unexpected winner of a race or other contest.
“Having never won a race, she was a dark horse to win the Gold Medal in the 100 meters.”
In horse racing, a dark horse was a horse about which little was known and which was
not expected to win.
The first known use of the term in this context was in Benjamin Disraeli’s novel The Young
Duke, from 1831:“A dark horse which had never been thought of, and which the careless
St. James had never even observed in the list, rushed past the grandstand in sweeping triumph.”
The term soon began to be applied more generally but especially to unknown political candidates.
There is a colorful story about the origin of the term, in which a horse trader with
a winning racehorse secretly disguised the horse as an ordinary workhorse, resulting
in long odds and big betting wins when the horse would unexpectedly win the race.
It is also claimed that owners would dye their horses a dark color in order to hide their
identity.
Back the Wrong Horse: To back the wrong horse means to make the wrong choice concerning
who or what you support and to support a person or action that is later unsuccessful; generally,
it means to make a wrong choice or to guess wrongly concerning the final outcome.
“I backed the wrong horse in last year’s election.”
Since 'bet on the wrong horse' has the same meaning, it's fairly easy to figure out the
origin of this origin.
To back a horse in horse racing usually entails the intention to bet on the horse winning.
So, to back the wrong horse is to bet on a losing horse.
The nexts idioms come from the game of Billiards or Pool.
Behind the Eight Ball: To be behind the eight ball means to be in a difficult or awkward
situation; to be at a disadvantage; or to be out of luck, in a losing position; to be
baffled as to what to do or how to proceed.
Example: “We’re really behind the eight ball on this latest house flip.
We just found cracks in the foundation and tons of mold to remediate.”
For more on this idiom, see the full video for behind the eight ball, linked in the description
below.
Call the Shots: To call the shots means to be in charge or in control; to make the important
decisions; or to have authority.
Example: “Everybody can’t be in charge,” said Frank.
"Someone has to call the shots.”
To call the shot, in pool playing or billiards, means to say where you are going to hit the
ball.
The expression may also come from archery or target shooting, where archers or shooters
may say what part of a target they are going to hit.
The next group of idioms comes from the sport of Baseball.
To Be On the Ball: To be on the ball means to be highly competent, capable, skillful,
proficient, etc.; to be highly aware of what is going on and be quick to understand and
react appropriately to things.
Example: “He must have something on the ball.
He graduated from MIT, after all.”
It's fairly certain this idiom comes from baseball, although we can't be one-hundred
percent sure.
It seems to allude to throwing a pitch in a way that makes it very hard to hit, such
as with a lot of speed, spin, or change in motion, such as a curveball.
Right Off the Bat: Right off the bat means immediately; instantly;
from the very beginning.
Example: “The first time I put on ice skates I fell down right off the bat.
Then I fell down again.”
This baseball idiom seems to allude to hitting a ball with a bat.
When a player hits a ball in baseball, they begin to run the bases immediately after the
ball has been hit, with no hesitation, thus “right off the bat.”
A Whole New Ball Game: A whole new ball game is a completely changed situation or set of
circumstances.
Example: “People don’t want discs anymore.
Now that streaming is becoming the standard for movies and music, it’s a whole new ballgame.”
It can be safely assumed that this idiom came from baseball.
However, the term ball game only referred exclusively to the game of baseball up until
the 1940s.By 1913, sports reports began using “a different ballgame” to refer to a dramatic
turn of events in a baseball game and this phrase became common by the 1930s.
This phrase, and its variation a whole new ballgame do not seem to have passed into figurative
use until 1960s, when a ball game could also have referred to football or even basketball.
The following idioms are from American) Football.
To Do an End Run: To do an end run is to maneuver around an obstacle or authority in order to
accomplish a certain goal.
This idiom means much the same as to go over someone’s head.
Often, the word around is added, as in ‘to do an end run about somebody,’ but this
usage is not necessary in all cases.
Example: “Fran knew her boss would steal credit for her idea, so she did an end run
around him and went straight to the CEO."
This idiom comes from American football, where an end run refers to an offensive play in
which the player with the ball runs around the end of the opposing defensive line.
It has been in use since the mid-1900’s.
Monday-morning Quarterback: A Monday morning quarterback is a person who dissects an event
and tells others how it should have been dealt with after the event has happened.
This person has the benefit of hindsight and already knowing what decisions were made and
what outcomes occurred.
So, a Monday morning quarterback is “wise after the fact.”
Football fans, of course, may be Monday morning quarterbacks, and love to discuss what plays
should have been called, etc. after a game has already been won or lost.
In this way, they are similar to armchair quarterbacks, but only after the fact.
For a Monday-morning quarterback, “hindsight is twenty-twenty.”
Example: “After the bridge collapsed, the Monday-morning quarterbacks were out in force
but, in truth, nobody suspected the structural flaw in the steel which led to the event.”
NFL Sunday football games are a favorite American pastime so it would be easy to assume that
this idiom originated after the NFL was formed as people would watch the game on Sunday and
then discuss it on Monday.
Surprisingly, however, the idiom predates the NFL and actually comes from college football.
The term was used by Harvard University quarterback Barry Wood as early as 1931.
He was referring to fans of college football but why he used Monday when games were played
on Saturday is unclear.
Run Interference: To run interference is to help someone accomplish something by dealing
with potential problems so as to eliminate encumbrances or distractions; to intervene
in order to help another person.
Example: "Todd, my son's school just called.
He's sick and I need to pick him up.
Can you run interference with the boss for me while I'm gone?"
This idiom has been used since the 1900s.
In American football, to run interference is to deploy an array of blockers in front
a ball carrier to help clear a path by blocking the opposing players and shoving them out
of the way, thus removing the “interference” from the field so that the ball carrier can
score a goal.
This activity was legalized in American football in 1889.
Because of the outrageous tactics first used, several fatalities happened on the field.
After the more lethal forms of running interference were banned, to dissociate the activity from
its negative past, it became known as blocking, but this change did not occur before running
interference began to be used figuratively to mean helping to clear the way for someone
else to accomplish something.
The next idiom is a Basketball Idiom.
Full-Court Press: A full court press, when used as an idiom, refers to applying aggressive
tactics using all the resources at your disposal to exert maximum pressure in order to achieve
some desired outcome.
This idiom is most often used in business.
“If we’re going to close this deal, it will take a full-court press.”
This is one of several idioms which come from basketball, a relatively young sport.
In basketball, a full court press refers to a defensive tactic where the entire team is
used to put pressure on the other team over the entire court, thus disrupting their ball
handling, passing, dribbling, etc.
This defense happens as soon as the inbound pass occurs, as opposed to allowing the other
team to reach half-court.
The next idiom comes from the sport of Wrestling: No Holds Barred: No holds barred means a situation
without any restrictions, where anything is permitted.
It means anything goes.
Example: “I’ll never go out shopping on Christmas Eve again, it’s a no holds barred
mob scene!”
Usually, wrestling is regulated and certain holds or moves are against the rules or barred.
However, sometimes bouts do not have such restrictions and are called no holds barred
matches.
These types of bouts can be very dangerous.
As an idiom, the expression alludes to this situation where there are no restrictions
or rules.
It has been used figuratively since at least 1940.
The next few idioms come from the sport of Boxing: On the Ropes: When used regarding
boxing matches, on the ropes refers to a fighter who has been forced back against the ropes
by his opponent and is leaning on them for support, making it difficult to defend himself.
When used generally to refer to a person, organization, business, or effort, on the
ropes means that things are not going well and collapse or defeat is imminent.
“His business was on the ropes, and his marriage was on the rocks.
Tom was having a very bad year.”
This idiom has been used in regards to boxing since the mid-1900s.
Some sources fail to recognize this phrase as an idiom when it is used in boxing, listing
it only as the origin of the more general idiom.
However, even when used in boxing it can still be considered still idiomatic.
We might well imagine a boxer sitting on top of the ropes, but this is not the intention
of the expression.
The word 'on' is used to mean against.
Throw In the Towel: To throw in the towel means to quit or give up, admitting defeat.
Example: “My aunt and uncle’s marriage has been in trouble for years.
They finally decided to throw in the towel.”
For more on this idiom, see the link to the full video.
The next idiom is from Racing: From the Word Go Although this idiom probably derived from
foot-racing, like some other racing-related idioms, it could just as well have come from
any kind of racing sport.
From the word go means from the very beginning or start.
Example: “I was a part of this company from the word go and now it’s finally time to
retire.”
Dating from the early 1800s, the expression probably alludes to the start of a race signaled
by an official yelling go, as in “ready, set, GO!”
An alternative form of the idiom, from the get-go, is much younger, having been used
only since the 1960s.
The allusion seems to be a short-hand version of “since something got going.”
This concluded my presentation of 15 English sports idioms.
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