getting clobbered/getting skunked

Laurence Horn laurence.horn at YALE.EDU
Tue Mar 5 02:34:37 UTC 2002


>I had posted about "skunked" not too long ago. While researching Barry
>Popik's references on "Windy City," in the Dictionary of Americanisms, I
>came across the term "Chicagoed." In the 1890s, Chicago had a team that was
>unbeatable. The expression had developed among sportswritters -- "Chicagoed
>'em," which meant the other team didn't score. That is my etymology for
>"skunked," because as every linguist today knows (especially
>McCafferty/Swenson/Vogel) Chicago means "skunk."
>
>Carl Jeffrey Weber
>Chicago
>
Waal, can't say as I'm sure.  "to be buffaloed" after all means to be
flummoxed or intimidated, and obviously derives from the fact that
the Buffalo Bills football team participated in four consecutive
Super Bowls, losing each one by increasingly lopsided margins (more
or less).



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