[Ads-l] Definition of "Rookie" (Sports)

[Bill Mullins]

OTOH, in general, a baseball player in his first year in the major leagues is a rookie,

despite how many seasons of minor league ball he may have played.  And although I can find

examples of minor league players being referred to as "rookies" in their first years at

a particular minor league, I don't think that usage is routine.  (This, despite the existence of minor leagues called

"Rookie Leagues".)   So I think there's reason to keep "major" in the definition, particulary

when preceded by "esp."


(And while I was in that section of the OED, I noticed that it does not have an entry

for the card game "Rook" [name taken from the bird].

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rook_(card_game) )


> I agree. I would have said something like "a first time player at a given
> level of sports".
>
> On Tue, Aug 9, 2022, 1:34 PM Shapiro, Fred <fred.shapiro at yale.edu<https://listserv.linguistlist.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/ads-l>> wrote:
>
>> The OED's definition of "rookie," sense 2., is:
>>
>> "Originally and chiefly North American. A new member of a sports team,
>> esp. one playing in his or her first major league or championship."
>>
>> This definition seems pretty off-base.  Merriam-Webster's definition seems
>> closer to being accurate: "a first-year participant in a major professional
>> sport."  But I don't think the qualifying words "major" and "professional"
>> should be in there.
>>
>> Fred Shapiro
>>


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