Idioms About Sports
2020-12-13
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1Now, Words and Their Stories, from VOA Learning English.
2Sports are a great source of enjoyment and competition for people around the world.
3There are many expressions related to sports in English that we use in our daily lives.
4In the United States, the most popular sports include baseball and American football.
5So, terms and sayings connected to those games are especially common.
6We often use sports-related terms in our daily lives to describe moments of success, difficulty, failure and fairness.
7Timothy Wahl teaches English as a second language to adults in Los Angeles, California.
8He also wrote the book, Footballogy: Elements of American Football for Non-Native Speakers of English.
9Wahl says using sports idioms is a great way to sound more like a native speaker and better understand a new culture.
10Knowing how to use American sports idioms can help people from different cultures make personal connections in a foreign place.
11Here are a few expressions to practice.
12Let's consider the phrasal verb "huddle up."
13The verb "huddle" means to crowd together.
14In American football, the offensive team huddles throughout the game to discuss its plan of play.
15The team forms a sort of circle with their backs to everyone else.
16This helps keep the players' brief meeting private.
17They do not want the opposition to learn what moves they are planning to make.
18Apparently, the football huddle began at Gallaudet University, a university for students who have hearing disabilities.
19The players use sign language, speaking through signs they make with their hands.
20So, the Gallaudet players faced each other so the other team could not see their hands.
21Here is are two example sentences of the phrase used outside of football:
22The students huddled up around the chemistry teacher as she performed the experiment.
23The patient's doctor and family huddled up to discuss possible treatments.
24One of the most common American football idioms is "a Hail Mary."
25"Hail Mary" is the name of a Christian prayer.
26It is used in football to describe a play made by the losing team toward the end of the game.
27The play is not likely to be successful but is made in desperation.
28The prisoner hid under a car in a Hail Mary effort to escape police.
29The idiom "drop the ball" most often describes a situation where someone failed to do something important or necessary.
30This term is used in many sports.
31A baseball, football or basketball player can "drop the ball," usually resulting in some kind of loss or penalty for their team.
32In non-sports talk, you might say you "dropped the ball" if you did not finish your school work on time, or forgot to pay the electric company, or did not follow your supervisor's orders for a project at work.
33Listen to this short discussion as an example:
34Sorry, I'm late for work.
35I had to walk because there was no gas in the car.
36John was supposed to take it to the fuel station.
37Wow. Didn't you also tell me that he left your phone outside in the rain yesterday?
38Yep! He has really been dropping the ball lately, and only I seem to suffer the results!
39I'm Armen Kassabian.
1Now, Words and Their Stories, from VOA Learning English. 2Sports are a great source of enjoyment and competition for people around the world. There are many expressions related to sports in English that we use in our daily lives. 3In the United States, the most popular sports include baseball and American football. So, terms and sayings connected to those games are especially common. 4We often use sports-related terms in our daily lives to describe moments of success, difficulty, failure and fairness. 5Timothy Wahl teaches English as a second language to adults in Los Angeles, California. He also wrote the book, Footballogy: Elements of American Football for Non-Native Speakers of English. 6Wahl says using sports idioms is a great way to sound more like a native speaker and better understand a new culture. 7Knowing how to use American sports idioms can help people from different cultures make personal connections in a foreign place. 8Here are a few expressions to practice. 9Huddle up 10Let's consider the phrasal verb "huddle up." The verb "huddle" means to crowd together. In American football, the offensive team huddles throughout the game to discuss its plan of play. The team forms a sort of circle with their backs to everyone else. This helps keep the players' brief meeting private. They do not want the opposition to learn what moves they are planning to make. 11Apparently, the football huddle began at Gallaudet University, a university for students who have hearing disabilities. The players use sign language, speaking through signs they make with their hands. So, the Gallaudet players faced each other so the other team could not see their hands. 12Here is are two example sentences of the phrase used outside of football: 13The students huddled up around the chemistry teacher as she performed the experiment. 14The patient's doctor and family huddled up to discuss possible treatments. 15Hail Mary 16One of the most common American football idioms is "a Hail Mary." 17"Hail Mary" is the name of a Christian prayer. It is used in football to describe a play made by the losing team toward the end of the game. The play is not likely to be successful but is made in desperation. 18The prisoner hid under a car in a Hail Mary effort to escape police. 19Drop the ball 20The idiom "drop the ball" most often describes a situation where someone failed to do something important or necessary. 21This term is used in many sports. A baseball, football or basketball player can "drop the ball," usually resulting in some kind of loss or penalty for their team. 22In non-sports talk, you might say you "dropped the ball" if you did not finish your school work on time, or forgot to pay the electric company, or did not follow your supervisor's orders for a project at work. 23Listen to this short discussion as an example: 24Sorry, I'm late for work. I had to walk because there was no gas in the car. John was supposed to take it to the fuel station. 25Wow. Didn't you also tell me that he left your phone outside in the rain yesterday? 26Yep! He has really been dropping the ball lately, and only I seem to suffer the results! 27I'm Armen Kassabian. 28Armen Kassabian wrote this story for VOA Learning English. Caty Weaver was the editor. 29____________________________________________________________ 30Words in This Story 31idiom - n. an expression that cannot be understood from the meanings of its separate words but that has a separate meaning of its own 32practice - v. to carry out or perform a particular activity 33authentic - adj. not false or copied; genuine; real 34phrasal verb - n. a phrase consisting of a verb and another element, typically a preposition 35desperation - n. a state of despair or hopelessness 36We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section or send us an email at learningenglish@voanews.com.