"serve one's way out of a bagel"

[Laurence Horn]

Not really as figurative as it seems, but that's how announcer Dick
Enberg described Kim Clijsters' effort at the U.S. Open today to win
a service game to prevent Venus Williams from winning the set 6-0,
the proverbial bagel:

"Ruminating turn of events in this fourth-round affair, 6-love to
Clijsters and now trying to serve her way out of a bagel here in the
second set".

As it turns out, Clijsters couldn't serve her way out of the bagel,
but she clearly could fight her way out of a paper bag--after she
bageled Venus 6-0 and was then bageled 0-6 in turn, she did win the
decisive third set.

LH

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