neat phrases from Kent Desormeaux

[Laurence Horn]

At 10:49 AM -0400 5/6/08, Charles Doyle wrote:
>Perhaps a related question: Horse racing is considered a SPORT (it's
>written about in the sports pages of newspapers); but which is the
>ATHLETE--the horse, the jockey, the owner?
>
>--Charlie

Secretariat had a high ranking--I forget which--in ESPN's "100
greatest athletes" ranking.  But jockeys are considered athletes too.
Owners aren't, they're owners (as with team sports).  Then there are
the trainers, who should be considered like managers/coaches, but I
guess are considered trainers.

LH

>_____________________________________________________________
>---- Original message ----
>>Date: Tue, 6 May 2008 06:19:56 -0700
>>From: Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at YAHOO.COM>
>>
>>I've watched Animal Planet for so long that this usage seems
>>perfectly ordinary.  Furthermore, the "tragic" part might apply
>>more to the owners of the horse than to the horse itself.
>>
>>   But be that as it may.  Eveybody under the age of 115 should know
>>by now what my freshmen knew thirty years ago (Ow! There goes that
>>durned lumbago agin!), that a "tragedy" is just something that's
>>very, very sad.   Like you go, "Oh, no! That really sucks!"
>>
>>   JL
>>
>>Wilson Gray <hwgray at GMAIL.COM> wrote:
>>
>>Amen, Charlie.
>>
>>-Wilson
>>
>>On Mon, May 5, 2008 at 10:07 AM, Charles Doyle wrote:
>>>
>>>  Speaking of the Kentucky Derby: In the media chatter (oral and
>>>printed), the word "tragic" has undergone a further degradation of
>>>meaning. It is now a TRAGEDY when a horse gets injured and
>>>dies--presumably making the brute a tragic figure?
>>>
>>>  --Charlie
>
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The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org