Fwd: interesting metaphor

Tue Dec 9 19:35:56 UTC 2008

i don't have much to say on this topic myself, so i'm wearying of  
acting as a middle man between Victor and ADS-L.  i've suggested to  
Victor that he subscribe, but i suspect he doesn't want to be bothered  
by the mail.

Begin forwarded message:

> From: Victor Steinbok <victor.steinbok at verizon.net>
> Date: December 9, 2008 10:52:32 AM PST
> To: "Arnold M. Zwicky" <zwicky at csli.stanford.edu>
> Subject: Re: interesting metaphor
>
> The first piece below is titled "Chocolate leg is the executioner",  
> which is basically what the first sentence excerpt says. The second  
> one says, "Curiously enough, the shot came from the right foot,"  
> implying that it was a "left-footed" player.
>
> The second piece is a bit more interesting. It says, "Henry can be a  
> bit chocolate-legged... It is more difficult for a left-legged  
> player to improve his chocolate leg than for a right-legged player."  
> This is followed by something like, "Take my word for it--I am a  
> left-legged footballer." (not reproduced here) A side note is that  
> Google translates "rechtsbenige" as "right isosceles". I consulted a  
> native speaker and she was not familiar with either "chocoladebeen"  
> or "rechtbenige", but did suggest that the latter must be "right- 
> legged". (But only after I suggested that it might have something to  
> do with handedness. Her first response was, "It must be Belge!" The  
> difference is in the final e.) Another thing that's interesting is  
> that she recognized "been" right away, but not "benige".
>
> I am translating loosely, since my Dutch is not that great. But I am  
> sure of the general meaning.
>
> So, if the citation for German was correct, it does seem to be a  
> German/Dutch difference. And "chocoladebeen" gets a lot of hits  
> (1100 raw). I found a few that refer to "a very good chocolate leg",  
> so the idiom appears to be in wide use in this particular context.  
> Looking back at the citations from the first message (second page  
> cited for "chocolate foot"), most of them also refer to the less- 
> favored foot, i.e., non-leading foot on the bike or planting foot in  
> soccer. My German is nonexistent, so I can't verify how the word is  
> used in German. Then, there is also this oddity, which is similar to  
> DoubleTongued definition.
>
> The only German page where I could get an unambiguous translation  
> that supported the "dominant leg" interpretation was this one. The  
> rest were either ambiguous or contradictory. Might there even be a  
> German/Austrian difference? (With Austrian more similar to Dutch...  
> Or is it the other way around?)
> schau auch v.a. auf die Wadenmuskulatur Deines "kurzen" Bein i.d.R.  
> wird die deutlich dünner sein als die des Schokoladenbein
>
>     VS-)
>
> http://bramvanpolen.punt.nl/index.php?r=1&id=410217&tbl_archief=0
> Enkele minuten voor tijd bracht aanvoerder Albert van der Haar met  
> zijn rechtervoet de Zwolse formatie de volle winst. Het  
> chocoladebeen fungeert als scherprechter.
> ...
> Albert van der Haar kreeg de gelegenheid om aan de linkerkant van  
> het veld op te stormen. De aanvoerder wist de voor zijn eigen goal  
> staande Kevin Moeilijker te verrassen met een geplaatst  
> afstandschot. Curieus genoeg kwam de treffer vanaf de rechtervoet.
> http://forum.voetbalprimeur.nl/showthread.php?p=412681
> Henry kan weinig met zijn chocoladebeen (let daar maar eens op),  
> maar is wel één van de betere spitsen ter wereld.
> ...
> Het is namelijk voor linksbenige spelers moeilijker om het  
> chocoladebeen te verbeteren dan voor rechtsbenige spelers.
>
>
>
>
>
> Victor Steinbok wrote:
>>
>> >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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