TexasDesign.com

Contributed by Chuck Lustig, of ExcitingWriting Communications

Strike: The modern meaning of this word developed from the Old Norse, striuka, “to deal a blow.” By around 1325 “strike” came to mean “to deal a blow” and “to collide.” The first use of “strike” to refer to a labor dispute came in 1918. When sailors refused to go to sea, they would “strike” the sails. The first use of the word as a baseball term came in 1841; the first time, to describe a military attack, 1941. (Courtesy: Online Etymology Dictionary, ? 2001 Douglas Harper)

Bat: This word derives from Late Latin, batter, “to beat,” then progressed to Old French, batte, then made its way to the Gaelic batt or bata, meaning “staff” or “cudgel.” It then migrated into Celtic and made it into Old English as “batt,” then passed into Middle English as batte, a stick. The first use of the word “bat” as a kind of paddle used to play cricket dates from 1706. (Courtesy: Online Etymology Dictionary, ? 2001 Douglas Harper)

Ball: This word came to us through Old English from Old Norse and Old German. It was probably brought to Britain, then inhabited by Celts, by Germanic tribes (the Angles, Saxons and Jutes) around the 5th Century C.E. “On the ball” came into usage as a sports term in 1912. “Ball and chain” as a prisoner restraint came into usage in 1835. The song “Ball and Chain” was recorded and popularized by Janis Joplin in 1967 but was composed and first sang by Moma Thornton. (Courtesy: Random House Unabridged Dictionary, except for the part about Janis Joplin)

Fan: The first use of this word was in the 1880s and, interestingly enough, its first use was to describe someone who loved following baseball. It then expanded to other sports and then to cultural and other endeavors. “Fanatic” is derived from the Latin word fanaticus, meaning literally “pertaining to a temple.” The Latin word for temple is fanum, which came to be associated with wild religious rites. So when people go wild over baseball, remember “fan” started out describing religious enthusiasm. (Courtesy Katherine Barber, Six Words You Never Knew Had Something to Do with Pigs.)

Run: This word started in Iceland as rinna, then migrated to Germany in the form of rinnen, then to Old English, as rinnan, then to Middle English as rinne and finally to its current form in Modern English.

Base: Deriving from the Greek word basis, which then became the Latin word basis which morphed into “base” in English, something upon which something else rests. Just as a statue rests on its base, a base became the place a player rested between plays.

Ump: “Originally in the 14th Century the word was noumpere, from the Old French nonper, meaning “not a pair,” that is, a third party considered to be an impartial judge. Noumpere came into the [English] language in the mid-1300s but by the mid-1400s, people had redivided the word? thinking that “a noumpere” was actually “an oumpere.” Thus, the word lost its initial “n” and came down as “umpire.” Initially, it meant an arbitrator in a dispute. In sports, its use dates from the 1700s.” (Courtesy Katherine Barber, Six Words You Never Knew Had Something to Do with Pigs.)

Here are a few expressions that derive from baseball.
How often do we use them without being aware of their origin?

• That was a curve ball!
• That was a change-up!
• That one came out of left field!
• Was he off base or what?
• Three strikes and you’re out!
• I struck out on that deal!
• I didn’t even get to first base (with her)!
• Ballpark some figures for me, why don’t ya!
• That was a minor-league (or bush-league) effort!
• This is how things are done in the big leagues.
• I’ll give you a rain check.
• Take a seventh-inning stretch.
• Right off the bat, he says to me?.
• Ask hardball questions.
• He pitched him softball questions that were easy to answer.
• He’s already got two strikes against him.
• They were just running up the score.
• Just get on base, will you?
• Batter up!
• She hit a home run with her presentation!
• They brought in a heavy hitter!
• That’s the way the ball bounces.
• He dropped the ball.
• Batter up!
• Let’s bat around the idea.
• He went to bat for him.
• Keep your eye on the ball!
• Play ball!