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OED English n. III. 8.:<br>
<br>
<blockquote type="cite"> 8. [Perhaps so named because English
players introduced the technique to the U.S. (but see quot. <span
class="crossReferencePopup"><span class="xref">1959</span></span>).]
<em>U.S.</em> <em>Sport</em> (orig. <em>Billiards</em>). Spin
imparted to a ball by striking it on one side rather than
centrally so as to affect its course, esp. after an impact or
bounce; = side n.1 14d. Also in extended use. Freq. in to put
(the) English on and variants (cf. English v. 4).</blockquote>
<br>
Extended use does have an example from 1966. That seems
insufficient. Aside from that, in the Clippers-Spurs broadcast, a
few minutes ago [that was "a few hour ago", but the time I'm posting
the message], the commentator (who shall remain nameless, unless you
want to call him Marv) referred to "Reverse English", which seems to
be a fairly common reference (at least, for him). Usage of "body
English" is even more common and stretches well beyond sports.
Neither is in OED. Partridge/Beale 8 (1984--the only copy I have)
expands significantly on "body English" and adds "bottom-english"
(headword "english" is lower case in Partridge).<br>
<b></b><br>
<blockquote type="cite"><b>english.</b> Spin on the ball, whether,
as orig. and usu., in billiards or in baseball: Can.: since ca.
1918. Mr. D. S. Cameron, Librarian to the University of Alberta,
has, in a private letter, 1937, explained the stages of the
origination thus:--'1. Language ekes our its own deficiency by
gesture, hence, gesture equals "body English".<br>
'2. By direct transference, any gesture or contortion (as in
trying to do a difficult physical task) becomes "body English". <br>
'3. In a game (e.g., billiards), effect of effort on the ball
becomes "body English" on the ball.<br>
'4. By natural contraction, this becomes "English" on the ball or
"spin"... Can be written with little "e".<br>
Mr. Cameron adds that those who say <i>side English</i>, instead
of <i>English</i> or <i>spin</i>, are merely being anti-English.
Whereas <i>english</i> > ca. 1945, a technicality and part of
the Standard language, <i>side English</i> has remained s., but
was, by 1945, ob.<br>
Then there's <i>bottom-english</i>, back spin plus side spin. </blockquote>
<br>
Is this right? "Body English" came <i>before</i> "English" (on the
ball)? With all respect to Mr. Partridge and Mr. Cameron, that seems
implausible. The data are somewhat subjective, but I find several
references (mostly Mark Twain, but also a couple that were not in
the OED) for English on a ball, but not a single instance of "body
English" in the relevant sense through 1925.<br>
<br>
This is all just speculation, but if "side English" indeed
disappear, this might be an indication /against/ the Cameron
argument. In fact, Cameron's letter might be one of the earlier
examples of "body English", complete with a translation.<br>
<br>
This still does not explain "reverse English" in basketball.<br>
<br>
VS-)<br>
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