the over-under is....

[George Thompson]

Properly, as we prescriptivists say, an odds-on proposition is one where
one must risk more than one stands to gain in winning.  Betting on a horse
that goes off at 1 to 2 means that the profit on a $2 bet will be about $1,
and the payoff will be listed as $3 -- counting the $2 that is being
refunded.  Even-money means that the profit will be about equal to the
amount risked.

Handbooks for befuddled horseplayers say things like "a 50% or better
chance to win", but I've never understood how to quantify so precisely this
likelihood, and so I remain befuddled.  I can look at the resumes of the
horses in a race and see whether one is more accomplished than the others.
 But then, my religion forbids me to bet any horse at less than 4 to 1
odds, so it hardly matters.

GAT

On Wed, Apr 18, 2012 at 11:49 AM, Dan Goncharoff <thegonch at gmail.com> wrote:

> Speaking of betting terms, Ihave seen a dilution of the term "odds-on" in
> describing "favorite".
>
> I know the term from horse race betting, where it referred to a horse with
> even odds or better, ie, a 50% or better chance to win.
>
> I have seen it used as a synonym for strong, used to describe multiple
> favorites in a competition:
>
>
> http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1022579-the-top-ten-odds-on-favorites-to-capture-the-2012-australian-open-crown
>
> The Top 10 Odds-On Favorites to Capture the 2012 Australian Open Crown
>
> DanG
>
>
> On Wed, Apr 18, 2012 at 11:30 AM, George Thompson <gt1 at nyu.edu> wrote:
>
> > ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> > -----------------------
> > Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > Poster:       George Thompson <gt1 at NYU.EDU>
> > Subject:      the over-under is....
> >
> >
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >
> > "Over-under" is a sports gambling term seemingly not in the recently
> > revised "O" section of the OED.  It is a common betting proposition in
> > football: the Pope of bookmakers sets a number, and the suckers bet on
> > whether the final score of the two teams, combined, in the game will
> > be over or under that number.  In making the bet, the sucker takes the
> > over or the under.
> >
> > It has passed from referring to a literal betting proposition to a
> > figurative sense.
> >
> > Searching the Proquest newspapers for "over under" turned out to be
> > unprofitable, since that sequence in other contexts is far more common
> > than I would have thought.
> > Searching for "over under is" takes it back to September 24, 1979, in
> > the Chicago Tribune:
> > "Latest line.  Favorite Dallas, Points 3 Underdog Cleveland.
> > Over-Under: 39  Over-Under is the betting line on the total number of
> > points scored by the two teams in the game, over or under the line
> > figure."
> > In the LA Times, December 28, 1980, Jim Murray made plans to teach his
> > new granddaughter that "over-under is a sucker bet", along with a
> > number of other bits of no doubt hard-earned wisdom.
> > By 1987, Tony Kornheiser was using it in other contexts, as for
> > instance, the Washington Redskins line coach favors very big men, with
> > 300 lbs as the over-under.  (not a verbatim quote).
> >
> > A report in the NYTimes Business Section today marks the first time I
> > have noticed this expression in the mouth (or from the fingers) of
> > someone not a sportswriter.  The first time noticed in the NYTimes,
> > too, for that matter: I have mainly encountered it in the sports
> > section of the [NY] Daily News.
> > From a story about Warren Buffett's announcement that he has developed
> > prostate cancer: "“Go to any actuarial table; a healthy, stress-free
> > 81-year-old has a 12-year life expectancy, and I’ll take the over on
> > that,” said Whitney Tilson, the managing partner at T2 Partners and a
> > Berkshire shareholder."  (NYTimes, April 18, 2012, B Section, p. 1,
> > col. 6)
> >
> > No doubt the old wisecrack regarding an ill-matched marriage, "I give
> > it six months" is now, in some circle, being expressed as "I put the
> > over-under at six months".
> >
> > GAT
> >
> > George A. Thompson
> > Author of A Documentary History of "The African Theatre", Northwestern
> > Univ. Pr., 1998, but nothing much lately.  Working on a new edition,
> > though.
> >
> > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
> >
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> 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