"bush league"

[Jonathan Lighter]

  I was thinking of predicative uses especially, like

  "That guy is so bush."

  On the other hand, maybe it's a political term now....

  JL

Benjamin Zimmer <bgzimmer at BABEL.LING.UPENN.EDU> wrote:
  ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
Sender: American Dialect Society
Poster: Benjamin Zimmer
Subject: Re: "bush league"
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On 1/19/06, Jonathan Lighter wrote:

>Does anybody still use "bush" in a general sense to mean "unprofessional,
>inept, childish, etc." I first heard that in the late ' '70s.

Sure, mostly in sporting contexts, e.g.:

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/hockey/nhl/news/2000/11/09/bag/
Sports Illustrated, NHL Mailbag, Nov. 9, 2000
How can you attack Craig MacTavish for his outburst against Bob
Hartley? Who calls a timeout when they are up by two goals and on a
two-man power play? That was a bush move and the Avalanche players
knew it.


--Ben Zimmer

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