Baseballisms in British English...
Anybody else see this BBC article that discusses infiltration of American "Baseballisms" into British English?
It's something I've wondered about before and am a bit surprised to learn that so many baseballisms seem to exist in British English. Any of the Brits out there want to confirm this?
Admittedly there are some on there, like "to pitch an idea" whose link to baseball may be a bit tenuous. I personally never thought of it that way, considering the verb "to pitch" being able to appear in other contexts. Although the OED, does trace the origin of this meaning to 1940s America, so it's possible.
Still, it's some food for thought. Not exactly academic, but interesting.
It's something I've wondered about before and am a bit surprised to learn that so many baseballisms seem to exist in British English. Any of the Brits out there want to confirm this?
Admittedly there are some on there, like "to pitch an idea" whose link to baseball may be a bit tenuous. I personally never thought of it that way, considering the verb "to pitch" being able to appear in other contexts. Although the OED, does trace the origin of this meaning to 1940s America, so it's possible.
Still, it's some food for thought. Not exactly academic, but interesting.