a few bits from a single article

[Ben Zimmer]

On Sat, Feb 18, 2012 at 3:54 AM, Victor Steinbok wrote:
>
> Perimeter (1959)
>
> >     1. d. /Basketball/. The semicircular line on a basketball court
> >     that extends from the baseline to enclose the basket and key; the
> >     three-point line. Also: the area beyond this line, extending to
> >     the sidelines and the mid-court line, from which a field goal
> >     earns three points rather than two. Freq. /attrib./
>
> This one I /know/ to be wrong. When talking about the perimeter,
> especially about perimeter shot or perimeter shooting, the usual
> reference is /within/ the 3-point line, not outside of it.
[...]
> The perimeter is most certainly the area /inside/ or near the line,
> /not/ beyond the line, as the OED claims. Needs complete revision of the
> lemma and addition of compounds (perimeter shot, shooter, shooting,
> game--maybe more, but I can't think of it at the moment)/

In an article about the Knicks' Steve Novak and his success with
3-point shooting, Novak uses "perimeter" as the OED defines it:

---
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/02/sports/basketball/steve-novak-of-knicks-enjoys-hitting-3-pointers.html
“That’s what I do,” he said of his game. “I shoot perimeter shots.
When it’s there, I shoot it. When it’s not, I don’t.”
---

--bgz

--
Ben Zimmer
http://benzimmer.com/

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