"upset"

[Alice Faber]

Laurence Horn said:
>>
>My bad; I didn't notice the Additions tab.  I can actually imagine
>that a first use in tennis (or even in baseball, if the World Series
>sweep of the mighty Philadelphia A's by the Miracle Boston Braves of
>1914 had been deferred until 1920) could have been modeled after the
>victory of Upset over Man O' War, if that was immediately recognized
>as the canonical upset.  But the etymological claim still seems a bit
>shaky--if Man O' War had been surprised by the upstart Chocolate
>Pudding in the Sanford, would we now be hailing the Patriots' Super
>Bowl triumph as a great chocolate pudding?

Well, of course not. That wouldn't resonate with such visually evocative
idioms as "upsetting the apple cart".

--
Alice Faber                                  tel. (203) 865-6163 x258
Haskins Laboratories                              fax  (203) 865-8963
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