Sinistr-
Posted by Bruce Kahl on October 24, 2002 In Reply to: Something sinister? posted
by Shae on October 24, 2002
: : : : : : : : : I've had another
request from North America for something that's a bit beyond my knowledge. I guess
the expression has to do with Baseball, but I'd love to know the details. The
writer comes from Canada, but his name sounds French - perhaps he's not interested
in Baseball! Help again please.
: : : : : : : : : Quote:
: : : : : : : :
: "Here's one that I have not been able to uncover... "Out of left field" as in
"something came out of left field". I'm curious to know the origin of this saying"
:
: : : : : : : For more discussion search under "field" in the archives. The way
I've heard it: "He's out in left field."
: : : : : : : : WAY OUT IN LEFT FIELD
- Out of touch, eccentric, odd; also, misguided. This term alludes to the left
field of baseball, and there is some disagreement concerning its origin. Some
writers suggest it comes from the remoteness of left field, but only in very asymmetrical
ballparks is left field more distant than right field. Others suggest it alludes
to the 'wrongness' of left as opposed to the 'rightness' of right. A correspondent
of William Safire's in the "New York Times" said it was an insulting remark made
to those who bought left-field seats in New York's Yankee Stadium during the years
that Babe Ruth played right field, putting them far away from this outstanding
player. Perhaps the most likely theory is that it alludes to inmates of the Neuropsychiatric
Institute, a mental hospital, which was located behind left field in Chicago's
old West Side Park. Hence being told you are 'out in left field' would mean you
were accused of being as peculiar as a mental patient. In any event, the term
has been used figuratively for various kinds of eccentricity and misguidedness
since the first half of the 20th century. John Ciardi also cited a synonym, 'out
in left pickle,' maintaining that 'pickle' was baseball slang for the outfield.
Perhaps it once was, but it is no longer current." "Southpaws & Sunday Punches
and other Sporting Expressions" by Christine Ammer (Penguin Books, New York, 1993).
:
: : : : : : I've heard "out of left field" as a rough equivalent of "off the wall."
If a remark "comes out of left field," it's a non sequitur.
: : : : : : Although
from the land of cricket rather than that silly game of rounders that you all
get excited about in the US, and although my primary source of Americanisms is
imported TV shows, I've always believed this expression to be "out of left field",
meaning bizarre or unconnected, just as Ms. Berg says.
: : : : : : A raw googlefight
gives 14,300 for "of" and 10,200 for "in", if anyone's remotely interested.
:
: : : : Both are valid. Left field is far away, and "wrong" as left always is
-- so an unexpected idea, one that comes from no connected thread, a non sequitur,
is said to come from out of left field. The semi-goofy person that issues such
utterances is said to be out in left field, far away from the conventional and
connected. (Our position, of course, is at home plate*, because these judgments
are all relative to you and me, who are, need I add, perfectly normal.) *where
the batsman stands, facing the bowler ....
: : : : You mean, at the crease.
Actually, I have to give it to the US here, because "out of left field" is a lot
more zippy an expression than any mythical Brit equivalent, which might be something
like "from near the mid-off boundary" or "from deep in the covers".
: : : I'll
say. Nothing slows my progress (well, yes, to a halt) in doing British crossword
puzzles than being expected to know cricket crap. I mean, asking the first name
of an Aussie batsman who scored prodigiously in the '30s is a question that comes
out of lef -- oh, never mind.
: : Don(ald) Bradman. We're about to get pasted
in another Ashes series over the coming weeks, too. Plus ca change, plus c'est
la meme chose.
: Dunno if it has any relevance, but the left or sinistral side
is usually associated with danger or evil in medieval art. In depictions of Adam
and Eve, for example, Eve the Temptress is always on Adam's left side.
Main
Entry: sin·is·ter
Etymology: from Latin sinistr-, sinister on the left side,
unlucky, inauspicious
- Re: Sinistr- James Briggs 10/24/02
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