Mind the Gap

Posted by Brian from Shawnee on April 25, 2005

The other day a sports reporter quipped "mind the gap" during the highlights of a baseball game here in the U.S. This was on a national broadcast on the ESPN cable network. I have heard the phrase "mind the gap" solemnly intoned over and over by a recorded voice on the London underground, and it seems to be a pretty well-recognized phrase in that context. "The gap" in baseball is the area between the centerfielder and either of the other two outfielders. A ball hit into the gap is the second-best kind of hit, the best being a home run. This seems to be a new use of an established phrase.