"to roll" [was: football]

[Joel S. Berson]

At 9/4/2011 06:20 PM, victor steinbok wrote:
>...
>3. "to roll"??
>
>The Tigers still pulled off their fourth comeback from a double-digit
> > deficit in the last 13 games -- and allowed hundreds of celebrating fans to
> > head to Toomer's Corner to roll the once-stately, now sickly oak trees that
> > were allegedly poisoned by an Alabama fan.

"to toilet paper" -- garland with strips from
toilet paper rolls.  See text and photo at
http://www.albanyherald.com/news/2011/sep/04/tigers-celebrate-amazing-comeback-at-sickly/
"Hundreds streamed to Toomer's Corner following
the 23rd-ranked Tigers' 42-38, comeback win
against Utah State on Saturday. They celebrated
like always by heaving toilet paper into the
branches of the two poisoned, clearly ailing oak
trees at the intersection of campus and downtown."

A tradition locally (Boston area) among high
school teams -- toilet paper the house of a
player.  Victor, are you not a native?

Joel







>4. That ... that:
>
>"That's kind of been instilled in this group that you never look at the
> > clock and the scoreboard until it says zero-zero-zero."
>
>
>  5. "cupcake" not in OED:
>
>"We were wrong for thinking coming in that they might be a cupcake team and
> > they really ran it down our throat the first half," he said.
>
>
>Well, "cup-cake" in the literal sense is in the OED, but no figurative
>assignment is given.
>
>6. "Three-and-out" not in any dictionary--only in Wikipedia (
>http://goo.gl/l9Xb9 )
>
>Georgia was called for three penalties on its first possession, then went
> > three-and-out on its second.
>
>
>
>7. Utterly unrelated to ESPN. OED has under possession 1.f.,
>
>f. colloq. (orig. U.S.). The offence of possessing drugs or other illegal
> > substances.
>
>
>In current use, it can also refer to gun possession as a criminal offence.
>"Possession of stolen property", on the other hand, is usually spelled out,
>as is "possession of burglary tools" or similar.
>
>8. Another one unrelated to ESPN. OED entry for neutral adj. B.I. 3.b.
>includes two unrelated uses:
>
>3. Not belonging to, associated with, or favouring any party or side.
> >  b. In a game, meeting, encounter, etc.
>
>
>
>1775    C. Jones Hoyle's Games Impr. 205   Billiards.‥ Carambole, is played
> > with three balls, one being red which is neutral.
> > ...
> > 1992    Today (BNC) Dec.,   The FA‥will
> either confirm the result or‥order
> > another match, possibly on a neutral ground and behind closed doors.
>
>
>This may be splitting hairs, but the former is neutral because it can be
>used by either side in the course of the game. The latter is being neutral
>because it is not a partial or "home" site. "Neutral corner" in a boxing
>ring is a bit more difficult to separate out. In any case, a "neutral
>arbiter/referee" (also in law) does not sound to me to have the same meaning
>of "neutral" as a "neutral site/ground/field/location".
>
>Both 7. and 8. were, however, inspired by mention of "possession" and
>"neutral-site" (adj.--not in OED on its own) in ESPN coverage.
>
>Georgia was called for three penalties on its first possession, then went
> > three-and-out on its second.
>
>
>  That huge play roused a red-clad crowd that left little doubt this was no
> > neutral-site game.
>
>
>VS-)
>
>------------------------------------------------------------
>The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

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