"be hit-and-run"

[Laurence Horn]

At 12:56 PM -0400 6/27/08, Charles Doyle wrote:
>And what would be the possible plurals of the baseballic noun
>"strike-'em-out-throw-'em-out"? (Or is the term
>"strike-him-out-throw-him-out"--with different antecedents of "him"?)
>
>--Charlie

The plural is "two strike-'em-out-throw-'em-out double plays". ;-)
(From the grand tradition of "Send me a mongoose.  Make it twins.")

LH

>_____________________________________________________________
>
>---- Original message ----
>>Date: Fri, 27 Jun 2008 11:58:09 -0400
>>From: Benjamin Zimmer <bgzimmer at BABEL.LING.UPENN.EDU>
>>>
>>On Fri, Jun 27, 2008 at 11:18 AM, Arnold M. Zwicky
>><zwicky at csli.stanford.edu> wrote:
>>>
>>>  the baseball use of "hit and run" is very often pluralized as
>>>"hits and run", as in "two hits and run scored".  fewer hits for
>>>"two hit and runs", even fewer for "two hits and runs", but both
>>>are attested.
>
>>
>>I wouldn't expect "two hits and run scored" to have anything to do
>>with the baseball usage of "hit(-)and(-)run". (MW def: "a baseball
>>play calling for a runner on first to begin running as a pitch is
>>delivered and for the batter to attempt to hit the pitch".) It
>>usually appears as "X had two hits and run scored", which is a
>>terse way of saying that X had two hits and scored one run in a
>>particular game. Likewise, I'd expect "two hits and runs" to refer
>>distributively to >"two hits and two runs" rather than "two
>>hit-and-run plays". "Two hit(-)and(-)runs", on the other hand,
>>works just fine in the relevant sense, as in these online exx:
>>
>>"Two hit and runs late in the game were smoothly executed."
>>"Neil gave me the sign for the two hit-and-runs and he told me to
>>try to bunt."
>>"Another player is hitting at home plate (two bunts, two hit and
>>runs, 10 swings)."
>>
>>
>>--Ben Zimmer
>
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The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org