beast

[Laurence Horn]

On Feb 10, 2014, at 11:39 AM, Jonathan Lighter wrote:

> CNN describes a football player as "a beast on the field, a great leader."
>
> Used to be, a "beast" was a kinda bad thing. But hey, football.

Is your "but hey," a relative of "because"?

I wonder whether it's necessarily the case that a beast ("on the field" can be implied) is necessarily a great leader.  Lawrence Taylor was both, but there are others who are beasts and not especially leaders.

I'm also not sure whether calling someone a beast does or doesn't imply great strength and/or size; I can imagine Peyton Manning, who has neither, being considered a beast in the sense of tough to contend with or counter.

Also, in a sports context, one of the prominent uses applied to teams rather than players, especially in the frame ____ of the East.  So Georgetown, Syracuse, Pittsburgh, or UConn would alternately be described as (the) Beast of the East, back when there was a Big East Conference (yes, there's one now, but it's…well, less big).  Beast of the West (say for UCLA in the 60s-70s) was much less likely--"best of/in the West", maybe, but not really the same.

LH

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