The United States is a very sports oriented culture. Not only are there a multitude of television channels dedicate either to sports in general or to specific sports, but our educational system—high school and college—is also driven by sports.
With regard to language, and particularly with regard to American English, the language of sports is very similar to the language of war. For example, Seth Lerer, in his book Inventing English: A Portable History of the Language, writes:
“Drawing, in part, on the traditions of the war reporter, the sportscaster colored our imaginations of events (the phrase ‘color commentary’ is now used to refer to the interpretations offered by professional athletes turned sportscasters).”
Many English, and particularly American expressions, have their origins in sports. For example, the term “southpaw” comes from baseball. This term originated in Chicago’s Comiskey Park in which pitchers faced west. A left-handed pitcher would, therefore, throw the ball with the hand on the south, hence the birth of the term “southpaw.” The term came into use in the 1880s and is generally credited to Finley Peter Dunne, a sportswriter for the
Chicago News.
Games:
The English noun “game” came into English around 1200 from the Old English “gamen” meaning “joy, fun; amusement.” The “-en” was lost and its meaning became “contest for success or superiority played according to rules.” The Old English “gamen” comes from the Proto-Germanic “*ga-“ plus “*mann” meaning “person” which gave the sense of “people together.”
One of the earliest games, by the way, was bowling, which is found in Egypt by 5200 BCE.
Sports:
The word “sport” came into English as a verb in the fifteenth century with the meaning of “to take pleasure, to amuse oneself.” Its origin is the Old French “desporter” meaning “to divert, amuse, please, play.” In the late sixteenth century its meaning was restricted to “amuse oneself by active exercise in open air or taking part in some game.”
By the 1520s, the word “sport” had come to mean “a game involving physical exercise.” In 1861, “sport” in American English was also used to describe a stylish man, someone who lived by gambling and betting on races.
One of the most popular team sports today is soccer. The origins of the word “soccer” can be traced to 1863 with the foundation of Association Football (that is, football as played under the rules of the Football Association of England.) The word “association” was abbreviated as “assoc.” and this was shortened and the –er suffix added to become “soccer.” The use of the –er suffix is common in British public school and university slang.
Athlete:
The English word “athlete” has Greek origins and has an underlying etymological meaning of “competing for a prize.” The Greek word “áthlon” meant “award, prize” and thus the verb “athlein” meant “to compete for a prize.” From the verb comes the noun “athlētēs” which means “competitor.” In Ancient Greece, these words were used with regard to the public games which involved racing, boxing, and other events. The word “athlete” eventually narrowed down to mean “one who takes part in sports involving physical exercise.”
Athletics were important in Greek society and Greek sports were dominated by aristocrats as they had the time and resources to train properly. An aspiring aristocrat was expected to excel in athletics. Nigel Rodgers, in his book The Complete Illustrated History of Ancient Greece, reports:
“Among aspects distinguishing Greek games from other cultures were the nudity of all contestants, which was extremely important—for the gods were shown naked—and the restriction on eligibility to freeborn Greeks from around the Greek world.”
Note: In etymologies, the * indicates that the Proto-Indo-European or prehistoric word has been reconstructed by historical linguists.