In the same boat +

Posted by ESC on April 06, 2009 at 13:42

In Reply to: In the same boat + posted by Najme on April 06, 2009 at 10:10:

: What is the origin of "in the same boat" and "a whole new ball game"?

In the same boat - sharing risks. "To avoid capsizing, everyone in the boat must work together." "When a Loose Cannon Flogs a Dead Horse There's the Devil to Pay: Seafaring Words in Everyday Speech" by Olivia A. Isil (International Marine/Ragged Mountain Press, McGraw-Hill, 1996). Page 56. ".dates from the time of the ancient Greeks and has been used figuratively for centuries. It often is stated as 'all in the same boat,' as it was by Artemus Ward ('The Draft in Baldinsville, 1862): 'We are all in the same boat.'" "Facts on File Dictionary of Cliches," second edition, edited by Christine Ammer, Checkmark Books, New York, 2006. Page 215-216.

Whole new ballgame - New rules, strategy or game plan for an entirely changed situation. ".an Americanism originating about 1970." "Facts on File Dictionary of Cliches," second edition, edited by Christine Ammer, Checkmark Books, New York, 2006. Page 479. "The term comes from baseball, where it denotes a situation in which the game turns around fast, with the team that is behind forging ahead. In America the word 'ball game' nearly always refers to baseball or softball, despite the fact that some form of ball is used in approximately eighty different games played throughout the world." "Southpaws & Sunday Punches and other Sporting Expressions" by Christine Ammer (Penguin Books, New York, 1993). Page 240.