"Rick Perry _double_ _downed_ on his denial of climate science."

Arnold Zwicky zwicky at STANFORD.EDU
Sun Oct 2 17:26:58 UTC 2011


two confounding uses of "double down" as a verb -- both with "down" as the head (so it takes the inflection), both from sports reporting.  these uses were new to me, and i'm not entirely sure of my glossing.

1. transitive "double down" 'defeat two times':

  Tornado Volleyball Double Downed at Tusculum [defeated in two matches]
http://kingtornado.com/sports/wvball/2011-12/releases/20110911t6vfzz

  Double downed
  Bucks fall to Scarlets, Lakers in Saturday twinbill [baseball]
http://www.bozemandailychronicle.com/sports/article_dc710e74-7933-11e0-a380-001cc4c002e0.html

  France double downed Slovenia
  France beat Slovenia (30-29) in PAOK Sport Arena, for a second time in as many matches in this tournament and will now oppose Spain for the 5th place. [handball]
http://www.handball2011.gr/index.php/olderarticles/219-france-double-downed-slovenia

2. transitive "double down" 'score two goals on' [said of a soccer player on the winning team]

  Montero double downs Timbers
  Seattle Sounders striker Fredy Montero scored two goals to help his side beat Major League Soccer rivals Portland Timbers 3-2 on Sunday.
http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story/_/id/933413/mls:-montero-double-downs-portland-timbers?cc=5901

  Miller double downs Saints
  Kenny Miller's brace helped Cardiff beat Southampton 2-1 to inflict only a second defeat of the season on the early Championship pacesetters
http://www.teamtalk.com/championship/7209625/Miller-double-downs-Saints


  Leeds 3 Crystal Palace 2: McCormack double downs Eagles
  Scotland international striker [Ross] McCormack scored the first and last goals of an end-to-end game ...
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2035868/Leeds-3-Crystal-Palace-2-Ross-McCormack-double-downs-Eagles.html

(i exclude here the noun "Double Down" for the KFC Double Down Sandwich, introduced in 2010)

arnold

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