Query from reporter about sports term "bye"

[Cohen, Gerald Leonard]

Dear ads-l members,

   I received a query from Edward Eveld of the Kansas City Star concerning the sports term "bye" but know no more about the
term than anyone else.  But perhaps some ads-l members might be able to help him. (I wrote to him about this, and he replied that
he would very much welcome my sharing his message with you).

   If anyone has any input on the term, please share it with ads-l and directly with Mr. Eveld. His message appears below my signoff.

Gerald Cohen


From: Eveld, Edward - Kansas City
Sent: Tuesday, September 27, 2011 4:19 PM
To: 'gcohen at mst.edu'
Subject: word usage

 Dr. Cohen,

With your interest in etymology and word usage, I'm sure lots of folks bring their pet peeves to you. I'm a features writer at The Kansas City Star and plan to write about one of mine.  It comes up during football season when sportscasters and fans talk about "bye" weeks. To me and to others (I think Frank Deford wrote about this once), these are off weeks, not bye weeks. Bye has a more specific meaning related to tournament play or playoffs, when a team earns the right to skip a round. Even the KC Chiefs official schedule says the team has a bye the week of Oct. 16. I know words evolve, of course. Would love to chat with you about this for the story. Please call me at 816-234-4442 or send back a good time to call you.

Many thanks,

Ed

Edward M. Eveld

The Kansas City Star

816-234-4442

eeveld at kcstar.com

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