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I've heard some people posit that the reason a large amount of idioms in American English come from sports terminology (e.g. "ballpark figure" or "the whole nine yards") is due to the "competitive nature" of Americans. While I'm not completely bought into the idea, is there a currently accepted theory for classifying the determining factor of idioms in a culture?

Andy
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    that's an interesting question. on the specific example i think it's because americans like to talk about sports to non-intimates. –  Jul 09 '12 at 22:12
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    It's not the idioms; it's the Metaphors that occasion them. Sports is used as a metaphor for all sorts of things in our culture (politics, for instance), and is itself a metaphor for aggressiveness, competition, and war. Add those up and you'll get tons of idioms, but they're consistent with the metaphor theme. – jlawler Jul 09 '12 at 23:56
  • Your question implies a comparison with other languages; which ones? I'm not sure AmEng has more sports-related idioms than any other variety of English. – Gaston Ümlaut Jul 10 '12 at 06:44
  • @GastonÜmlaut: Ever known many Australians? – jlawler Jul 10 '12 at 18:29
  • @jlawler Hmm, being one, yes quite a few. I'm not sure I see your point? – Gaston Ümlaut Jul 11 '12 at 00:24
  • All the Australian English speakers I've known are even crazier than Americans. I would imagine they'd have sports idioms up to the chin. But I don't know. – jlawler Jul 11 '12 at 00:41
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    @jlawler I'm not sure how we're crazier than Americans, but yes there are plenty of sports-related idioms in Australian English. But I think would be very problematic to try to measure relative amounts of such idioms in order to say one has a 'large' number, this implying a comparison. – Gaston Ümlaut Jul 11 '12 at 11:28
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    Sorry, I'd meant to write "even crazier than Americans about sports" (practically nobody's "crazier than Americans" in general. :-) As for measuring the usage, probably a $100 million grant would serve to initiate the process of measurement. It'd take a while, though. – jlawler Jul 11 '12 at 14:12
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    @jlawler Fair enough: I'd be willing to work with you for half… (let's have lunch). In Australia it's often said that South Africans and Kiwis are crazier about sport than we are. – Gaston Ümlaut Jul 11 '12 at 23:02

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The most common way for new languages to form is fairly regular. When two cultures meet, the dominant culture's language forms the basis for a pidgen in which those in the less dominant culture try to accomodate the dominant language while using grammatical structures, vocabulary, and metaphors/symbols from their own language. Once a complete language develops from these, it's often called a creole which has elements from both languages, including the metaphoric/symbolic imagery from each--(at the same time, the creole simplifies the grammar/syntax of the original). So the idiom is usually a metaphor which meant something concrete in the original language but which has taken on a more abstract meaning in the creole--which is then a real language. English went through this process, absorbing symbols and metaphors while simplifying forms. Sometimes individuals create idioms which go on to be applied to many things; for instance, Shakespeare: wild goose chase, the crack of doom, as pure as the driven snow, and many more. America added many: well healed, on the wagon, off the record, +++. It's a fascinating study.

bob sauerbrey
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