Fwd: interesting metaphor

[Arnold Zwicky]

a Dutch-German difference?

Begin forwarded message:

> From: Victor Steinbok <victor.steinbok at verizon.net>
> Date: December 9, 2008 7:18:03 AM PST
> To: "Arnold M. Zwicky" <zwicky at csli.stanford.edu>
> Subject: interesting metaphor
>
> From a daily soccer report (no source given in the email):
> Quote of the Day
>
> - Robin van Persie on overcoming his right “chocolate leg” issue: "I  
> know I can shoot with my right, although my left is better, but it’s  
> basically down to your belief in the power of your wrong foot. In  
> Holland we call it my ‘chocolate leg’ but positive thinking is the  
> key for me.”
> OK, here's one source.
>
> Here's another version. The interesting thing here is that it means  
> exactly the opposite from van Persie's statement.
> http://www.doubletongued.org/index.php/citations/chocolate_leg_1/
> Catchword for “chocolate leg”
>
> Catchword: chocolate leg
> Filed Under: English, Sports & Recreation
> Part of Speech: n.
> The part of speech reflects that used in the full entry, and not  
> necessarily the part of speech as it is used in the quotation below.
> Quotation: “There’s even something like a ‘dominant leg’! You  
> automatically try to take off from that one if attempting to jump.  
> Try. You’d be amazed. There’s a phrase for that in German:  
> ‘Schokoladenbein.’” “Chocolate leg? I’m going to assume that  
> something was lost in the translation here.”
> Article or Document Title:
> “Re: Left-orium” (URL)
> Author:
> John C.
> Article, Document, Publication, Web Site:
> Usenet: rec.games.roguelike.adom
> Date of Publication:
> Dec. 29, 2002
> This cite belongs to a full entry for chocolate foot.
> Posted 9 Feb 05 | Permalink |
>
> http://www.doubletongued.org/index.php/dictionary/chocolate_foot/
> Dictionary definition of “chocolate foot”
> chocolate foot
>
> n. the foot favored to use or to start with when running, biking, or  
> kicking; one’s dominant foot. Subjects: English, Body, Sports &  
> Recreation
> Etymological Note: Perhaps a calque from the German Schokoladenbein  
> ‘favored leg’ (literally ‘chocolate leg’). A similar German word is  
> Schokoladenseite ‘attractive side’ (literally ‘chocolate side’).
> 1 Comment | Cites | Permalink | Tell a Friend
> Citations: 1996 Hans Rey, Scott Martin Mountain Bike Magazine’s  
> Complete Guide To Mountain Biking Skills (Feb. 15) p. 116: Keep your  
> pedals horizontal, with your “chocolate foot” (your strongest foot)  
> forward. 1999 [Klieg] Usenet: alt.mountain-bike (Mar. 19) “Re:  
> Riding in Arizona”: Chicken Point has a sreaming single track  
> descent off it that has a nasty habit of turning your chocolate foot  
> into good because you are hardly pedaling, jsut keeping the pedals  
> level and coasting at 30mph. 1999 Scottish Daily Record (Sept. 20)  
> “Roddy gets it right with a bit of luck”: I turned inside a  
> defender, created a bit of space and hit a shot with my chocolate  
> foot, my right, and luckily it went in. 2002 John C. Usenet:  
> rec.games.roguelike.adom (Dec. 29) “Re: Left-orium”: “There’s even  
> something like a ‘dominant leg’! You automatically try to take off  
> from that one if attempting to jump. Try. You’d be amazed. There’s a  
> phrase for that in German: ‘Schokoladenbein.’” “Chocolate leg? I’m  
> going to assume that something was lost in the translation here.”  
> 2004 Leonard Zinn Zinn’s Cycling Primer (June 1) p. 34: The first  
> thing you must know before hucking yourself off a drop-off is which  
> foot is your “chocolate foot,” as Hans “No Way” Rey calls it. Your  
> chocolate foot is your favorite foot, the one you always keep  
> forward when standing on the petals.
> Posted 9 Feb 05 | Permalink
>
>

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