the sport of kings

[Jonathan Lighter]

Bookmakin' Bonus:

1878 _Baily's Magazine of Sports & Pastimes_ (Oct.) 377: ...men prepared to
fill the gaps in the ranks of leading turfites...to [defend] the good repute
and fair fame of the king of sports no less than the sport of kings!

(The long phrase is also a cliche', as many will recognize.)
JL

On Mon, May 23, 2011 at 8:28 AM, Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com>wrote:

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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      the sport of kings
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> OED has this as "war" from the 17th C. (the brackets in this case seem
> hair-splitting to me), but as "horse racing" only from 1918.
>
> 1859 "The Druid" [Henry Hall Dixon] _Silk and Scarlet_ (London: Rogerson &
> Tuxford) 85: That meeting, which is still marked with a white stone, in
> Yorkshire hearts, was the dawn of a new era for the Turf, which had known
> many ups and downs since the Duke of Cumberland's executors had sold off
> his
> stud. The names of " Bolton," "Queensberry," and "Rockingham" had, it is
> true, lent lustre to "the sport of kings," but it was not until the Prince
> of Wales and "Bedford," "Grosvenor," "Abingdon," "Barrymore," and some ten
> other equally choice spirits threw their souls into the cause, that it
> revived in earnest on Newmarket Heath.
>
> JL
>
> --
> "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."
>
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"If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."

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