Deuce!

Posted by Pdianek on December 29, 2003

In Reply to: Deuce! posted by Henry on December 29, 2003

: : Does anyone know the origin of this phrase?

: Where did the phrase "Anyone for tennis?" come from? Carla Bannerman, New York
: It was a Humphrey Bogart line from a 1930s Broadway play. Alas, not even the great Bud Collins, the author of the tennis encyclopaedia and a chap who has been watching tennis for a lifetime, can remember which Broadway play. However, given that Humph always played the hard man in the movies, appearing as a tennis-playing fop went down rather well with the theatregoers.

Actually, Bogart hadn't had time to develop his tough-guy stance. The play was 1920s, he was born in 1899. More (from a 1957 Alistair Cooke article) at www.guardiancentury.co.uk

• Deuce! masakim 29/December/03