A "Word Wise" for the 2008 Olympics.
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Some Olympic Games
I have been looking at "Language Corner" on the Beijing 2008 website, where you can learn some Chinese phrases such as "Which sports do you like best?" To be exact, not Chinese, but Putonghua, the standard spoken form of modern Chinese (from putong, common, and hua, spoken language.
So this month we will look at some of the sports in the summer Olympics.
Back to "Language Corner" and another useful phrase in Putonghua - "I'm interested in everything."
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Some Olympic Games
I have been looking at "Language Corner" on the Beijing 2008 website, where you can learn some Chinese phrases such as "Which sports do you like best?" To be exact, not Chinese, but Putonghua, the standard spoken form of modern Chinese (from putong, common, and hua, spoken language.
So this month we will look at some of the sports in the summer Olympics.
| Archery | Archer is from the Latin arcus (curve or bow). Arrow is from the same root. |
| Athletics | Athletics The steeplechase in athletics dates from the mid 19th century. The horse race dates from the late 18th century, and the original goal was a church steeple.is from the Greek athlein (to compete for a prize, from athlon, prize). |
| Badminton | The game dates from 1874 or earlier, and is named after the Duke of Beaufort's house in Gloucestershire. An earlier similar game (dating from the early 18th century) was called battledore. An earlier meaning of battledore (which may be from the Provençal batedor, beater) was a wooden bat or paddle used in washing, as a boat paddle, or for putting bread into an oven. Shuttlecock Racquet is from the Arabic raha (palm of the hand). dates back to the 16th century. Shuttle is the same word as the shuttle used in weaving - the earliest meaning was a dart or missile. Cock refers to the feathers on the shuttlecock. |
| Basketball | Devised by James Naismith, a Canadian P.E. teacher, in 1791. |
| Boxing | The origin of box in this sense is not known. Box was in use in England n the 14th century, when it meant a blow or cuff on the head or ear. The Queensberry Rules are named after Sir John Sholto Douglas (1844-1900), the 8th Marquis of Queensberry, who supervised the drawing up of the rules in 1867. |
| Canoe | Canoe is from the Carib (a Caribbean language) word for this type of boat - canaoua. Slalom is from the Norwegian slalåm, from sla (sloping) and låm (track). |
| Cycling | The Keirin race dates from the 1890s, is popular in Japan, and is known in English by its Japanese name. The Madison race is named after Madison Square in New York where the first relay race of this type was held in 1892. Velodrome is from the French vélo (short for vélocipède), bicycle and dromos, the Greek for course or running. Velocipede (from the Latin velox (swift) and pedis (foot). |
| Diving | Dive Pike An early English spelling of somersault was sobersault (from the Latin super, above, and saltus leap). the dive may be the same word as pike the fish (the diver resembles the fish!). is related to deep and dip. Dubious establishments are probably called dives as they are often underground and people can dive into them without being seen! |
| Equestrian events | Dressage is from the French dresser (to train or drill). |
| Fencing | Fencing the sport is the same word as fence the enclosure, and is short for defence. Épée is from the old French espee (sword). Sabre is from the Polish szabla or the Hungarian száblya. |
| Gymnastics | There was less scope for the logos of sponsors in ancient sports - gymnasium is from the Greek gumnazein (to exercise naked - gumnos means naked). |
| Hockey | The origin of the word hockey is not certain. One suggestion is the French hoquet (a shepherd's crook, which would resemble a hockey stick. The earliest meaning of bully (as in bully off) is a mêlée or scrimmage in Eton football. It is not clear if this sort of bully is related to the thuggish bully. The origin of that bully too is obscure but the meaning has changed over the years - in the 16th century bully meant sweetheart! |
| Judo | Judo is from the Japanese ju (gentleness, adapted from the Chinese jou, soft or gentle) and do (adapted from the Chinese tao, way). Judo is a version of ju-jitsu (from the Chinese jou and shu, art or science) introduced by Dr. Jigoro Kano in 1882. |
| Kayak | From the Inupiaq (Eskimo) word qayaq. |
| Repêchage | The stage at which runners-up compete for a place in the later stages of a contest gets its name from the French repêcher (to fish out or rescue). |
| Table Tennis | Dates from the late 19th century. Ping pong was the trade name for early table tennis equipment. |
| Tae kwon do | From the Korean - the literal meaning is the art of hand and foot fighting (tae, kick; kwon, fist; do, art, way, or method). |
| Tennis | Probably from the French tenez (hold), which could have been shouted by the players. Deuce is from the French à deux de jeu - two successive points are needed to win the game. The love in tennis scoring seems to come from the expression "for love", a game not played for money. Another less likely suggestion is that love is from the French l'oeuf - as the figure "0" looks like an egg! |
| Trampoline | From the Italian trampoli (stilts). |
| Volleyball | Volley is from the Latin volare (to fly). |
| Water-polo | Polo is from the Tibetan pholo (ball game). |
Back to "Language Corner" and another useful phrase in Putonghua - "I'm interested in everything."
