verbing ol é

[George Thompson]

Bill White used to use "olé" as a verb back when he broadcast the Yankees
games, 20 or more years ago.  As I recall, he always/generally applied it to
infielders who waved their glove at a ball, instead of trying to get in
front of it, as good practice calls for.
"He oléd the ball, and when it didn't bounce as high as he expected, it got
past him".  (not a direct quote)
The image is, a bull-fighter letting the bull pass him to one side.

Meals' notion of the word seems different, since he is applying it to a
swipe-tag that misses.

GAT

On Wed, Jul 27, 2011 at 3:44 PM, victor steinbok <aardvark66 at gmail.com>wrote:

> Umpire Jerry Meals on his blown call at the Atlanta-Pittsburgh game:
>
> “I saw the tag, but he looked like he oléd him and I called him safe for
> that. I looked at the replays and it appeared he might have got him on the
> shin area. I’m guessing he might have got him, but when I was out there
> when
> it happened I didn’t see a tag. I just saw the glove sweep up. I didn’t see
> the glove hit his leg.”
>
> Most stories copied the quote as is, although some dropped the diacritics.
>
> To add a twist, Fox Radio site changed the verb:
>
> http://goo.gl/MwfDk
> "I saw the tag, but he looked like he [missed] him and I called him safe
> for
> that..."
>
> The same reading found its way on at least one radio station's site, but
> they might have just picked it up from Fox.
>
> http://goo.gl/3Nwt5
>
> One of Pittsburgh local papers decided to explain the terminology:
>
> http://goo.gl/ynhbE
> "I saw the tag, but he looked like he 'Oled' him [like a bullfighter waving
> a cape at a bull] and I called him safe for that..."
>
> Although the text with the direct quote came from AP, some editors just
> could not leave it alone:
>
> http://goo.gl/ZkErZ
> "I saw the tag, but he looked like he olid him and I called him safe for
> that..."
>
> Another slight variation in a Georgia paper and in another WV paper:
>
> http://goo.gl/vsHC9
> http://goo.gl/Ta8yR
> "I saw the tag, but he looked like he ole'd him and I called him safe for
> that..."
>
> There are some tertiary sources that also picked up one or another version,
> but I only wanted to list the direct media citations.
>
> VS-)
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>



-- 
George A. Thompson
Author of A Documentary History of "The African Theatre", Northwestern Univ.
Pr., 1998, but nothing much since then.

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