"bush league"

[Benjamin Zimmer]

On 1/19/06, Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at yahoo.com> wrote:
> Benjamin Zimmer <bgzimmer at BABEL.LING.UPENN.EDU> wrote:
>
>> 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.
>
>   I was thinking of predicative uses especially, like
>
>   "That guy is so bush."

Not too hard to find in Usenet's alt.sports hierarchy...

http://groups.google.com/group/alt.sports.baseball.ny-yankees/msg/38b9a6abcf719ee0
alt.sports.baseball.ny-yankees, Oct 21 2003
Abusing the argue-balls-and-strikes-and-you're-out rule is really bush.

http://groups.google.com/group/alt.sports.hockey.nhl.vanc-canucks/msg/517ff03b3b0330a1
alt.sports.hockey.nhl.vanc-canucks, Mar 7 2002
Hockey games should be worth two points in the standings, period.
Having some games worth two, and some worth three, is really bush.

http://groups.google.com/group/alt.sports.hockey.nhl.tor-mapleleafs/msg/131c437b4e95165c
alt.sports.hockey.nhl.tor-mapleleafs, Jan 26 2002
Not calling the slash on Reichel was really bush.  The ref was right
there.   That sucked big-time.


--Ben Zimmer

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