Wednesday, February 23, 2005

Stepping Up to the Plate

This had never occurred to me. An excellent point in another brilliant recap, this one for "The Apprentice," by Miss Alli at Television Without Pity:

In actual baseball, when you "step up to the plate," it's because it's your turn. It's not an act of courage! That guy isn't willingly putting himself in harm's way. He's not ballsy; he's next. So can we stop using "step up to the plate" as some kind of synonym for "volunteer"? Because it really, really isn't.
Off-topic: Alli is also a must-read for fans of "Survivor" and (coming soon, a new season!) "The Amazing Race."

8 comments:

Frank said...

"Touch base" is another one, evidently from baseball, that doesn't make much sense. People use it to mean something like "stay in touch" or "keep informed", for example, "I just wanted to touch base with you and let you know how the project is coming along". But "touching base" isn't some sort of meeting between two parties. (Who? the baserunner and one of the basemen?)

It seems to me that the meaning should be something more like "making sure to dot the i's and cross the t's" that is, making sure small details are handled correctly. After all, in baseball you don't score a run if you haven't touched all the bases. In baseball only the runner wants to touch base; if anything, the basemen on the opposing team hope that the runner doesn't "touch base with them".

Shepcat said...

A baseball-centric phrase to suggest putting oneself in harm's way would be "to lean into the strike zone and take one for the team."

Also, I think "touching base" is less a baseball term and more along the lines of "reporting back to HQ," as it were. However,if one wanted to make a case for baseball here, one could refer to the pitch-out, in which the pitcher throws to first base to hold the baserunner on the bag, an act that requires the cooperation and communication of teammates, one of whom must, in fact, touch base.

Bill said...

What a silly bunt.

Peter Fisk said...

What, you mean spell "Clogslot" with a K?

Niel Loeb said...

Can't we still use these sayings they way they are commonly used even though they are technically wrong?
If 99.9% of the people use them a certain way, doesn't that mean they ARE that way?
Or perhaps we are being too literal. Sure, you step up the plate simply because it's your turn. And you touch a base without talking with the baseman. But when used as a saying, can't they have a different meaning?

Bill said...

Good points (and Python references) all around. I'm not proposing that we insist that cliches don't mean what they're used to mean, but I think that if we must use cliches, it's a good idea to be picky and avoid the ones that don't quite work.

Bill said...

Fair enough. Now can you explain why chewing and spitting are mandatory?

Bill said...

Indeed, and welcome! I thought it was clear that you were thinking outside the (batter's) box.