Tag archives: sports

Braggadocious? Never. Just excited about the Oxford Dictionaries February 2013 update!

“Having a mare of a week? With hump day over, the weekend is in sight and it’s time to start thinking about getting blootered on appletinis! Or do you prefer to put on your schlumpy clothes and curl up with a tray bake? My tortie has a more tweetable Friday night than that. But you [...]

Posted on: February 22 2013 | Comments: 36 | Categories: Dictionaries and lexicography, Word trends and new words | Tags: , , , , , ,

The Great British Summer of sport: 6 topical posts you won’t want to miss

Regardless of heat or sunshine, the Great British Summer has now truly arrived. If you’re outdoors playing sports, or indoors watching them, here are a few of our game, set, or match-related blog posts to keep you full of fun facts. 1.  Anyone for tennis? Whether you were on team Murray or team Federer, this [...]

Posted on: August 6 2012 | Comments: 0 | Categories: English in use | Tags: , , , , , , ,

Surprising word stories: Mr Punch, Dr Murray, and the first tonk

Many sports fans will be familiar with the verb tonk, which is widely used to describe the action of giving a ball a good firm hit. Less familiar, but common enough, is the noun tonk describing the same action. Both are of course in the Oxford English Dictionary, with histories traced back to the early [...]

Posted on: July 2 2012 | Posted by: | Comments: 0 | Categories: English in use, Word origins | Tags: , , , , , , ,

Of game changers and moving goalposts – football idioms in the English language

Football (or soccer, for avoidance of doubt) is one of those odd sports that tend to polarize: you either love it or you hate it. No matter whether you’re a lover or a hater, you will come across plenty of football-related idioms in everyday life. This is not in the least surprising, considering that The [...]

Posted on: June 28 2012 | Posted by: | Comments: 3 | Categories: English in use | Tags: , , , , ,