What’s the Word: A column that goes down to the wire
Since this is Super Bowl Sunday it might be appropriate to check out some popular, and maybe even some obscure, sports phrases and terms and try to find out how they originated. Now, these terms aren’t necessarily related to football, just sports in general. After all, to say this country is obsessed with sports in all its forms would be an understatement. But we are certainly not alone. Sports have played a part in societies almost since the origin of the species.
The idea of competition seems to be ingrained in the psyche of man. In its worst form, it results in destructive behaviors, like fist, knife or gun fights on an individual level, or all out war on a tribal or national level. I’ve always wondered if sports didn’t develop, at least in part, to satisfy this urge to compete without the destructive elements of competition, soccer riots notwithstanding.
Once again, a disclaimer. Most of these phrases and the explanations of their origins are gleaned from research on various Web sites, and I can offer no guarantee as to their accuracy, but most seem to make at least fairly good sense, so you can make your own judgment, just like that referee out on the football field.
Herewith, some sports phrases and origins.
Most of us have heard this one: down to the wire. This is used to designate a competition or situation where the outcome isn’t obvious until the last minute. This one is actually kind of straightforward. It comes from racing competitions where there is a string of some sort stretched across the actual finish line. Of course, it’s usually an easily breakable kind of tape or cord of some sort rather than a metal wire, but in most cases that’s what it’s called. In any case, the race isn’t decided until the “wire” is broken, hence the phrase, “down to the wire.”
Here’s another fairly obvious one: get a leg up. This is usually used to mean getting a boost or some sort of advantage by performing some action or beginning work on some competitive activity ahead of time. Like, “If I get up really early tomorrow, I could get a leg up on my competition.” This one has an equestrian origin. Getting a leg up is when someone gets some help with mounting a horse. A friend or helper would cup their hands together making a foothold to lift the rider up allowing them to throw a leg up over the horse, therefore “getting a leg up.”
All you hockey fans out there will probably find this one interesting, since it’s a common hockey term: the hat trick. This one refers to coming up with three successive wins, as in, “Wow, Joe pulled off a hat trick, he beat me our last three rounds of golf.” One explanation says this one comes from the game of Cricket, a traditional sport of the English. It refers to a bowler retiring three consecutive batsman with three consecutive pitches. This was viewed as a great accomplishment and was traditionally rewarded with a hat. This term is now used for other sports, particularly in hockey where it designates three goals by a single player during one game.
It should be noted there’s an alternative explanation for the hat trick, one which claims it originated with hockey in the first place. Seems it comes from the days when it was common for men, and women too, to wear hats to social events, and in Canada, hockey was very much considered a social event. And when a player scored three times in a game, the appreciative crowd would throw their hats out on the ice. I’m sure hockey fans will make their own choice on this one, since this practice isn’t dead by any means.
Just ask any Predator fan where some of their $25 Predator logo caps have gone and it should be easy to figure out the answer on that one.
(Charlie Johnson is news editor of the Standard. He can be reached at 473-2191 or by e-mail at newseditor@southernstandard.com.)