["punt" - Word of the Day from the OED]

[Victor Steinbok]

Checking the OED more closely reveals

> PUNT, n.[5]
> orig. Austral.
>
> A bet; a risk, a gamble. Chiefly in to take (also have) a punt.
>
> 1965 J. O'GRADY Aussie English 71 To ‘take a punt at’ anything is the
> equivalent of to ‘have a go’. 1969 Sydney Morning Herald 7 June 25/9
> Melbourne..selectors have ‘taken a punt’ in naming 20-year-old Russell
> Collingwood as centre half-forward. 1976 Daily Tel. 27 Mar. 2/3 People
> will still have a punt on Wimbledon. 1978 O. WHITE Silent Reach xxiv.
> 253 Blackness and silence. So take a punt... He..eased the pencil
> torch out of his bag. 2001 L. VOSS To be Someone 144 I'm willing to
> take a chance with you and put out your first record... Like I said,
> I'm willing to take a punt on you guys and see how it goes.
So, scratch that last bit. It's a different meaning (almost opposite, in
fact) and it's already accounted for.

In fact, the WOTD mailing only included PUNT, v.[3], but the other two
are unrelated.

Victor Steinbok wrote:
> ...
> In fact, there is a variation of "to take a punt on it" (possibly
> Australian, although might be US use as well--obviously punt is not a
> verb here):
>
>> To be honest, risk taking is not what it once was in Hollywood--that
>> is for sure. But I think the independent divisions of studios and
>> independent film companies are probably more willing to hear a pitch
>> like /The Crying Game/ or more willing *to take a punt on it* than
>> major studios.
> Julie MacLusky, Is there life after film school? 2003, Page 132
>
>> If Robyn Williams were a betting man he could *take a punt on it*.
> Donald Horne, The Coming republic, 1992, Page 78
>
>> "You could say that Qantas has taken a bit of a punt on this
>> decision", says Yates, "but we had monitored the performance well
>> with British Airways.
> International Aeronautic Federation: Interavia: world review of
> aviation, astronautics, avionics, 1980, Page 934
>
> I'll let someone else track down the earliest use, once it is
> determined that it's a legitimate entry. The earliest "take a punt on
> X" that I recorded appears to be from 1980.
> ...
>

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org