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спортивность английского языка
Вячеслав Дмитриевич Швайко,
кандидат филологических наук, доцент кафедры иностранных языков Башкирского государственного педагогического университета имени М. Акмуллы; директор Американо-Башкирского Интерколледжа при Башгоспедуниверситете, г. Уфа
Джереми Сэвидж,
Старший преподаватель Американо-Башкирского Интерколледжа при Башгоспедуниверситете, г. Уфа
В статье выявляется тот факт, что спорт влияет на общий образ жизни англоязычном мире в то время как язык спорта является источником новых слов и образов для английского языка. Тенденция к использованию фиксированных единиц языка, таких как метафоры и устойчивые выражения носителями любого языка приводит к тому, что многие из таких спортивных образов становятся готовыми языковыми выражениями, которые могут представлять трудности в расшифровке их переносного значения.
Ключевые слова: спорт, культура спорта, спортивная метафора, идиома, устойчивое выражение, лингвистический аспект.
THE SPORTIVENESS OF ENGLISH V. D. Shvayko,
Candidate of Philology, Associate Professor, Department of Foreign Languages of the Bashkir State Pedagogical University named after M. Akmulla; Director of the American-Bashkir Intercollege
at Bashgospeduniversitete, Ufa
J. Savage
Senior Instructor in American English and American Culture Studies, at American Bashkir
InterCollege (Ufa)
The article points out the fact that the culture of sports influences the general lifestyle of the English speaking world while the language of sports is a source of new words and imagery for the general English. The tendency to use fixed language units such as metaphors and set expressions by speakers of any language results in the fact that many of such sports images become ready-made linguistic expressions which may present difficulty in decoding their transferred meaning by international speakers of English.
Keywords: sport, culture of sport, sporting metaphor, idiom, set expression, the linguistic aspect.
All major "World Englishes", including British, American, Canadian and Australian varieties of English, demonstrate that the values of sport are deeply-seated in the character and mentality of the cultures speaking these varieties of English due to the significant ideological, social and cultural role which sports activities, sports institutions and the values of sports play both in the above-mentioned English speaking cultures and in the whole of the English speaking world.
It is true that sports and play are a significant component of any culture in the world. Says Nigel Townson: 'It is human nature to play and to compete. Peoples of all races and denominations have disported themselves - in a more or less organised manner - for at least as long as there have been written or pictorial records to serve as evidence to the contemporary historian'.
It is also true, that sport in Britain was historically destined to form a socio-cultural activity of its own and to produce its own language which many western as well as world cultures borrowed. According to many scholars and writers who looked into the role of sports in Britain, British sports and games are part and parcel of the British character and modern British lifestyle. Says T. S. Eliot: '[Popular culture]... is all the characteristic activities of a people: Derby Day, Henley Regatta, Cowes, The Twelfth of August, a cup final, the dog races, the pin table, the dart board...'.
The culture of sports influences the general lifestyle of the English speaking world while the language of sports is a source of new words and imagery for the general English.
A clear evidence of this phenomenon is a wide use of metaphors based on national and international sports by native speakers representing various social groups living in the relevant cultures: British, American, Canadian or Australian. Analysis of different types of discourses may lead one to the conclusion that sports related imagery can be used in all kinds of discourses: emotive prose, public speaking, business, military, everyday conversation, advertising, etc.
Some of the factors stimulating the generation of sports-based imagery are the attractiveness and importance of sports values, proximity of such notions as 'fairplay', 'victory', 'vigour', 'success', 'failure', etc., which exist in many spheres of human activity in any culture. The marked linguistic activity of sports metaphors in major World Englishes clearly makes English a language in which this phenomenon can be regarded as a linguistic universal and the culture and mentality of the people speaking these varieties of English as 'sportive'.
The tendency to use fixed language units such as metaphors and set expressions by speakers of any language results in the fact that many of such sports images become ready-made linguistic expressions which may present difficulty in decoding their transferred meaning by international speakers of English.
Sporting American English. Nobody would argue the role of sports in American life; they are business, especially so the big business, because they fit philosophically with widely accepted American dream of open competition in a free market economy. Americans believe in competition, foster it, encourage it. They live by its rules. No wonder the language of athletic competition has found its way as metaphor into every aspect of American life. If Americans are at a disadvantage, they say 'we've got two strikes against one'; also, things 'have taken a bad bounce', or somebody is 'on the ropes'. If somebody is aggressive, this person 'takes a ball and runs with it', 'takes the bull by the horns', 'comes out swinging' or 'makes a sweep'. If the fates still conspire against Americans, they 'take it on the chin', ' throw in the towel', or 'roll with the punches' until they're 'saved by the bell'.
It's worth taking some time to think about how the sports metaphors, so ubiquitous and so ignored until Watergate brought them to our attention, describe the quality of life
in America. The purpose of such sport metaphors is to explain unfamiliar or difficult concepts in terms of familiar images. But recently there have been some changes in the American self-concept and these changes are duly reflected in sport metaphors. Americans seem to have changed dramatically from a society in which 'it isn t whether you win or lose, but how you play the game', to one in which to use Vince Lombardi's words, 'winning isn't everything, it's the only thing!' And the sports metaphors have changed with Americans. 'The good fight' and 'the old college try' have given way to the more sophisticated 'gameplan\ 'play-calling', and 'quarterback rhetoric following some dramatic events in American history like Vietnam and Watergate. Sports metaphors now often function as public doublespeak: language meant to manipulate its audience unconsciously. Analyzing sports doublespeak reveals some scary truths how Americans look at life. In John Mitchell's words, 'when the going gets tough, the tough gets going' and Americans turn out to be a society in which 'nice guys finish last and everybody wants to be 'on the winning side'.
The rhetoric of the playing field appear in advertising, business and government. Let's take an obvious example first. President Ford, in publicizing his economic strategies when he first took office, devised the W.I.N. button. An offshoot of Ford's other unfortunate sport metaphor, the promise 'to hold the line' on inflation, the W.I.N. button was meant to appeal by familiarity to the sports-minded American who 'will get up for the game', and 'tackle the job' if the 'coach just tells him what to do. Ford hoped that the 'win' mentality was strongly ingrained that the very word would alter attitudes and behaviour.
With the W.I.N. button, Ford hoped to make use of sport metaphor the way advertising does. He wanted to make analogy from athletic success to success in other fields. Americans all expect to be 'addressed and seduced' by advertising, so it is no surprise to see professional athletes advertising hair tonic, shaving cream, even frozen pizza or panty hose. The doublespeak is implicit: use this product, and you will enjoy the same success as Frank Gifford, Arthur Ashe, Joe Namath. Associating the athlete with the product, however, makes another claim for the athlete: it extends his expertise beyond the playing field. Advertising agencies hope Americans will take the advice of these 'pros' about shaving cream, hair tonic, frozen pizza, or panty hose; after all, the pro wouldn't make a wrong advice about these products any more than s/he would throw the ball away at a crucial moment of the game. So the athlete is an expert, as well as a hero. His ability to 'score' carries over into financial and sexual arenas as well; there is even a product named: 'Score!'
Since it has been established by advertising that the athlete is both hero and expert, sport metaphors are used more subtly to sell products. In the MGB ad that read 'MGB' Think of it as a well-coordinated athlete: we can see how much athletic ability is admired. No longer do we compare the good athlete or the good team to a well-oiled machine; now we're comparing the machine to the good athlete. Like a well coordinated athlete, you'll 'score' in your MGB.
But advertising is an easy target for doublespeak analysis. More complex by far is the way sport metaphors function in business where their analysis leads to crucial revelations about American ethics. Business has always been fond of the football analogy as William
b. g. mbamko, gx. сэвнgм
A. Whyte points out. 'No figure of speech is a tenth as seductive to the businessman. Just why this should be - baseball curiously is much less used - is generally explained by its adaptability to all sorts of situations. Furthermore, the football analogy is satisfying. It is bounded by two goal lines and is thus finite. There is always a solution. And that is what makes it so often treacherous'.
Business uses the team philosophy, says Whyte, to hedge on moral issues. By making analogies to sports, business convinces the outside world that the decisions aren't truly consequential: they are 'games' executed by good 'team players'. The fact that dollars and human lives may also be involved is not included when the sport metaphor is used, for the sport metaphor imposes automatic limits on the way business is seen.
The goal of sport activity is always unambiguous and non-controversial; participants do not come together to discuss or debate the ends for which the activity has been established, but rather take this end for granted and apply themselves in a single-minded fashion to the task of developing the most efficient means to achieve the predetermined unchanging and non-controversial end: winning.
So the sport metaphor precludes thought; it operates on unconscious and irrational levels, manipulating its users as well as its audiences. Perhaps its use in business, where the idea of competition in the free marketplace still carries moral force has something to do with man's aggressive nature; what sport and business have in common that allows the sport metaphor to be drawn so often and so successfully by American businessmen. Sports are an acceptable form of releasing aggressive impulses; if business uses the sport metaphor, isn't the aggressiveness of business automatically acceptable?
Says Anthony Storr: '... some aggressive impulse which can lead to strife and violence also underlies man's urge to independence and achievement. Just as a child could not possibly grow up into an independent adult if it were not aggressive, so an adult must need continue to express at least part of his aggressive potential if he is to maintain his own autonomy'[Storr; p.59]. Cf.: 'to play station to station' to play or act in a methodical way (AmE).
Sporting British English. If you 'bat on a sticky wicket' in Britain you are in a difficult situation. No wonder the Duke of Wellington was able to observe that "the battle of Waterloo was won on the playing grounds of Eton". The skills learned on the playing fields by the child were translated in those days into the battles of the adult which is true today. At public schools they had to follow the rules of the school and its internal hierarchy, irrespective of title and rank outside the school. The idea was to 'play up and play the game' - play your best but play by the rules. The notion of sticking to the rules became deeply ingrained in middle class culture, so much so that it could have tragic consequences. This is illustrated as early as 1825 by the death of Lord Shaftesbury's fourth son in a fistfight at Eton when he was only 13. Significantly, the Earl refused to take any legal action against either the school or his son's opponent because the fight had been conducted according to the rules of the day governing fistfights. Pluck or courage and fair-play in combination were the characteristics of the gentlemen both on the sports ground and, indeed, in life itself. Winning was not the goal; competing with honour and upholding team spirit most definitely was. Team sports encouraged adherence to established rules, preparing boys for
life as responsible members of society. Certainly, there was an overwhelming tendency to see life, and even war, as a game.
British English reflects these ideas in such idioms as 'itisn't cricket', 'toplayfair\ 'to play the game' ' rules of the game', 'to play according to rules', 'the ball is in your court', 'to be at bat', etc., the meanings of which is quite obvious. This agrees very well with the British value of 'abiding by the law' and 'keeping stiff upper lip'.
Sporting Canadian English. 'Hit them with your hockey!' this coach's advice to his players suggests that prowess rather than fists might win the game (Can.E).
Says Jim Proudfoot, a Canadian journalist of 'The Toronto Star': 'Our language is constantly changing. Many new words or expressions have been adopted from sports. These words are initially classed as slang, which is very informal language.
Baseball has enriched the language of North America. Most Canadians or Americans regularly employ expressions, often without even realizing it, which have been taken directly from baseball. In almost every case, these words and phrases have become part of everyday conversation because they express so clearly what the speaker is attempting to say.
It was no trouble at all to compile overwhelming evidence in support of the above claims - or to back them up, to borrow from baseball lingo.
A friend invites you to lunch. You're tied up on the day mentioned but you say: 'I'll take a rain-check on that'. That's from baseball. When a game is cancelled because of wet weather, spectators are given stubs entitling them to admission on some future date.
'You're on deck', meaning your turn's coming right up. In baseball, the man on deck is due to bat next.
'A screwball' is a zany character. In baseball, it's one of the most unpredictable pitches, apt to dip or curve in unexpected ways.
You'll hear a person say, 'he threw me a real curve'. That means somebody has behaved confusingly, like a pitch's curve ball that looks like one thing and turns into something else, causing embarrassment for the person trying to react to it.
"Out of left field". An especially bizarre idea is described as being 'way out in left field, isn't it? Even a person can be said to be 'way out in left field. And a poor seat for any event is in that same remote area.
When a fellow is termed a 'real foul ball', don't you know precisely what's being conveyed?
Originally, the pinch-hitter was the player who went up to bat for an inferior hitter in a critical situation. Today, if even a statesman or a baritone can't perform on schedule, a substitute 'pinch-hits' for him. Prince Charles can 'pinch-hif for the Queen.
By the same token, if a person 'goes to bat' for another, it's because he presumably can speak or act with greater effect that the one he's replacing.
'A doubleheader isn't only a pair of baseball games, played in a quick succession by the same teams; the word can describe almost any activity that's repeated immediately.
When you're 'in the ball game', you're directly involved in what's going on. You're competing and taking part; your mind isn't wandering and you haven't been excluded from proceedings.
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When somebody 'plays ball', he's cooperating, right?
'A ballparkfigure' or a number that's 'in the ballpark is an estimate so close to being accurate that, like a hit that doesn't go over the fence, it can be played.
When a ball is hit to the shortstop, say, another player gets behind him in case he misses. He's 'backing up' his teammate. People today, in every walk of life, are 'backed up' at crucial moments.
Similarly, 'the backstops' prevents the costly loss of balls which may have eluded the catcher - have gone by the last man. You've used that term, too.
A player who's struck 'a home run' still must touch all the bases before scoring. If he doesn't he can be thrown out at the one he missed and the whole enterprise will be wasted. Businessmen these days know the importance of 'touching all the bases'.
And when a fellow checks with a colleague, doesn't he say he's 'touching base'?
Furthermore, it's always embarrassing, either in baseball or daily life, to be 'caught off base', isn't it? And a fellow who's badly mistaken is 'way off base' isn't he?
Anybody who's left-handed is 'a southpaw', even a violinist. The designation came from baseball. In many parks, like Exhibition Stadium, the left-handed pitcher delivers his throws from the south.
"Change of pace". Pitchers were the first people to indulge in a change of pace. It meant they could toss balls at varying speeds and would fool hitters with surprise changes, slowing up after a certain velocity had become familiar. Today, a person 'changes pace' when he alters his routine. It's usually for his own benefit and not intended to delude.
' You put one over' when you succeed with a bit of trickery. Originally, it was a pitcher getting a dangerous throw past the batsman.
'The bullpen' is that section of the stadium where relief pitchers await word they're needed, and also refers to a roster of such athletes. The expression can now refer to reserve personnel of any kind.
'A box score' is the statistical summary of what happened during a baseball game but the term now denotes any set of statistics compiled in convenient form.
'The farm system' was invented in baseball. A major league club would maintain its own set of teams at lesser competitive levels and use them to develop a steady flow of fresh, trained personnel. These days, almost any business can operate a farm system for the same general purpose.
The bat can slip out of the hands of a hitter who's 'lost his grip', often with serious results. A lot of people are losing their grip these days.
What's a pitch? It's what the pitcher offers the man at bat and once it's on its way, he can only hope it works. In 1978, 'a pitch' is what a salesman aims at a customer, what an advertiser puts before the public and what a fellow might attempt on a Friday evening at a disco.
Saturday morning, when that person reports that he 'struck out', is there any doubt about what's he's telling you?
Sporting Australian English. If you 'bet on the bush basis' in Australia you behave in a reckless, thoughtless manner.
If you 'get off your bike' you lose your temper. If something is 'home and hosed' then it is 'the result, which is a foregone conclusion or an easy winner'.
To investigate the phenomenon of sport metaphor in various "Englishes" from both linguistic and cultural aspects is to understand better the people living in these cultures and to effectively communicate with them. The research and the data available may also have potential implications for ELT with regard to specific culture bound imagery which modern native speakers and writers of English resort to as well as to ways of handling fixed phrases in the act of communication. The development of near native communicative competence presupposes the attainment of such ability.
references
1. Considine. Tim 'The Language of Sport.
2. Eliot T. S. 'Notes Towards A Definition of Culture, 1948.
3. HardawayFrancine. 'Foul Play: Sports Metaphors as Public Doublespeak'. In:
4. Sport Inside Out. Readings in Literature and Philosphy. Ed.: by David L. Vander-werken and Spencer K. Wertz. Texas Christian Univ. Press. Fort Worth, 1985. P. 576-582.
5. Townson Nigel. 'The British at Play'. A social history of British sport from 1600 to the present. Bucharest, 1997.
6. Proudfoot Jim. 'Baseball Enriches Language'. From: 'The Toronto Star', Sat., July 15, 1978.
7. StorrAnthony. 'Human Aggression'. N.Y.: Atheneum, 1970.
8. Whyte William, H. Jr. 'The language of Business' In: Technological and Professional Writing. Ed.: Kerman A. Estrin (N.Y.): Harcourt, Brace & World, 1963.
