Chrysti The Wordsmith: Sports Metaphors - 2

Greetings verb of yours and welcome to Kristi the wordsmith. Last time on this series we examined two expressions drawn from the world of sports and games. To give someone a fair shake meaning to treat someone justly and honestly comes from gambling where a fair shake is literally an honest shake of the dice in its figurative sense to throw in the towel means to admit defeat or to abandon an endeavor. But in the boxing world a coach or corner man who threw a towel in the ring was signaling surrender on behalf of his badly pummeled boxer to skate on thin ice is metaphorically to live dangerously to take an unnecessary risk. This expression which began appearing in print in the late 1800s was lifted of course from skating where someone literally skating on thin ice is in danger of breaking through and plunging into the freezing water below. Two hot dog is too ostentatiously show off an athletic scale often said of daring surfers and skiers. The

expression probably originated on early 20th century American baseball fields when talented athletes showed their skills off for the so-called hotdog eaters or the spectators who watched the game while consuming the traditional stadium meal of hotdogs. I'm Christie the wordsmith from FM in Bozeman Montana thanking studio engineer Brody Cates and consulting editor Professor Phil Gaines of Montana State University David divorce. CHRISTIE The wordsmith is sponsored by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and Zoot enterprises a high tech firm in Bozeman Montana offering challenging careers and innovative solutions for the financial services industry. Zoot web dot com.