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

[Baker, John]

To what extent would the willingness of the OED to list "Rook" be affected by the consideration that Rook is (or at least was, I haven't checked to see if there has been a change) the proprietary product of Parker Brothers (now part of Hasbro)?


John Baker



From: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU> On Behalf Of Bill Mullins
Sent: Thursday, August 11, 2022 1:00 PM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
Subject: Re: Definition of "Rookie" (Sports)

[snip]

(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)<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<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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