Today's Question
What’s the origin of "English," the kind you put on a ball?
It's another lazy San Francisco night and as I watch my beloved Giants baseball team on TV, I wonder at a comment made by the broadcaster. What is the origin of the term "English" as applied to a ball (any ball) spinning in some impressive fashion in the field of sports? Bowling, tennis, baseball. … As in: "That ball had a lot of English on it spinning back to the pitcher on the mound." Cecil, you are an acknowleged genius in many areas of knowledge, but this seems to be a particularly vexing conundrum, given the terminally goofy etymological history of sports catchphrases. Step up to the plate, Unca Cecil …
Cecil's Classics
Did Sigmund Freud use cocaine on his patients?
Did Sigmund Freud treat his patients by giving them cocaine? Cecil sniffs out the true story.
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it was a murder but not a crime.
Submitted by DesertDog, who also wrote the tag, thanks! -
What they did for love. Or something.
Submitted by Desert Dog, who also helped with the tag, thanks!