I love a good baseball fight, and there was a doozy on TV today. To make a long story short, Padres pitcher Chris Young beaned Derrek Lee, the best hitter in the big leagues, in this morning's game in Chicago. Lee charged the mound and punches were thrown. Jake Peavy, Marcus Giles, Lou Piniella--everyone got involved and three players and a coach got tossed. The announcers called it "fisticuffs."
The word is simply defined as "a fistfight," according to my dictionary, but it means so much more. When I hear it, I picture two gentlemen in three-piece suits and fedoras "putting their dukes up" to defend the honor of their women. You don't describe a UFC bout as "fisticuffs," nor a street brawl. But when baseball players punch each other, it still applies. Something about fighting over sticks and bases and a little leather ball deserves nothing more of a description than today's flippant and whimsical word of the day.
Blogger's note: Books, and especially dictionaries, are full of good words. (Baseball announcers are full of them, too.) Feel free to leave a comment sharing one of your favorites, and keep watching for more of mine.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment