Word and play: Here are some popular idioms that come from the world of sports

Just before the start of the week, Abhilash Tomy, a retired naval aviator, scripted history by becoming the first Indian to complete a non-stop circumnavigation of the globe at sea passing the three great capes in a pre-modern era sailboat.

As the week began, even as the world saw in Ding Liren only the second Asian after Vishwanathan Anand to emerge as the World Chess Champion, Sumit Nagal became the first Indian player to win an ATP Challenger title on European clay in Rome.

And when Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy wrote history after 58 years, winning gold at the Badminton Asia Championship in Dubai, it was the icing on the cake for Indian sports.

Keeping the mood intact, here’s a select medley of some interesting sport idioms and phrases that have embellished the English language:

Learn the ropes has its origin in sailing. Before the advent of the steamships, sailors had to learn to tie the knots and handle the ropes attached to the sails to capture wind to steer the vessel. In modern usage, it means to learn the tricks for doing a job well or to be well-versed in a craft. You must learn the ropes before you take charge of your family business.

Another oft-used borrowing from sailing is to take the wind out of one’s sails. It means to surprise someone with a piece of information that erodes the person’s confidence. She is an accomplished chess player but the news that she was pitted against the college champion in the first match took the wind out of her sails.

An expression borrowed from baseball is to take a rain check. The phrase originated in the 1870s in the US. If a high-profile match got postponed due to a heavy rain, the ticket-holders would be given a “rain check”, a voucher, to attend another match at a later date. In general use, it means to decline an offer for now that may be taken up later. Sorry, I have too much work to complete so won’t go for a movie but would love to take a rain check.

Another idiom from baseball, to throw a curve ball, has an interesting story behind it. American baseball player William Arthur ‘Candy’ Cummings, who played as a pitcher, was once throwing shells at the Brooklyn beach into the sea. He and his friends discovered that they could make flat circular shells curve in the air. Later, Cummings developed that technique as the most lethal weapon in his arsenal that made him one of the best pitchers in the history of the game. He was so effective that his teammates started calling him candy, a popular Civil war-era nickname for someone who was the best in a craft. The expression is used in English in the sense of confusing someone by doing something tricky or unexpected. During a live interview, the anchor threw a curve ball at the leader by asking him about his criminal past.

From horse racing comes the expression to win by a nose. It is, however, used in different sports as a metaphor for a close finish. A horse’s nose is first over the finish line on a racetrack and refers to the smallest margin of victory used to declare the winner. In a neck and neck contest in Astana, Ding won by a nose in the tiebreaker.

A common expression with almost the same meaning which has come from racing in general is photo finish. It refers to a situation when any race was extremely close. The 100-metre dash in the university sports meet witnessed a photo finish.

To hit the bull’s eye/bullseye comes from the game of darts. It means to get or do something exactly right. In target shooting it refers to hitting the centre of the target. “Bull’s eye” became associated with hitting a target beginning with archers in the 1880s in England. English yeoman would try and shoot through the eye of a bull’s empty skull to showcase their expertise. Another version about the origin of the idiom is that the target looked like a five-shilling coin that was popularly called a bull’s eye. During deliberations over turning the crisis the company was facing into an opportunity, his point hit the bull’s eye.  

To knock someone for a six, associated with cricket, refers to a situation when a batsman hits the ball and it crosses the boundary without a bounce, fetching six runs. Obviously, no bowler wants to be treated like that. Figuratively, it means to stun or overwhelm someone. The effect could be one of awe or of being devastated. At the Word Bee contest, his range of vocabulary knocked me for a six.

Wordly Wise is a weekly column by Amitabh Ranjan published every Saturday in the Explained section. Please tweet your feedback to @ieexplained