The list could go on and on, but that would only be running up the score.Ĭollins COBUILD English Usage © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 2004, 2011, 2012 strikeħ. Some unfortunate people are said to have been born with two strikes against them if bad things come their way right off the bat. When we cooperate we are playing ball, and when we get serious or even ruthless about something, we are playing hardball. We can be off base about something or so disconnected we are out in left field. We can go to bat or pinch-hit for a friend. If we can't go to lunch with a person who invites us, we take a rain check.
We routinely speak of ballpark figures or estimates, of some unexpected quirk of fate or tricky question on an exam being a curve ball, of minor-league or bush-league players in a field or business, who might one day enter the big leagues. When people say that they have struck out in an endeavor, they are using one such expression. Our Living Language The central role that baseball has played in American culture is known to all, but is particularly evident in the abundance of baseball expressions applied to circumstances outside the sport.
0 kommentar(er)
