The New Dickson Baseball Dictionary - Softcover

Dickson, Paul

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0156005808 ISBN 13: 9780156005807

Publisher: Harvest Books, 1999

Synopsis

From Abner Doubleday to Zurdo, from its thorough bibliography to its innovative thesaurus, this indispensable baseball resource is “that rarest of sports books, a valuable reference work that provides absorbing and enlightening reading” (Sports Illustrated). Winner of the Society of american Baseball Researchers Award. Black-and-white photographs.

About this title

Review:

Baseball is an etymologist's delight. The game coins words and phrases faster than Mark McGwire hits home runs (a.k.a. dingers, taters, round-trippers, four-baggers), and much of what begins as baseball-specific verbiage seeps into common usage. But why exactly is a high, lazy fly ball called "a can of corn," a pop-up that falls between the infield and the outfield a "Texas leaguer," a vicious curveball "Uncle Charlie," a poke that bounces off the plate a "Baltimore chop," and the minor leagues "the bushes"? Paul Dickson explains them--and about 7,000 more terms and expressions, names and events--in a wide-ranging work that's as much fun to browse through as it is specifically useful. Like its 1989 predecessor (which only sent 5,000 entries to the plate), the Dickson Baseball Dictionary arranges everything alphabetically, supplies definitions, offers examples, provides cross-references, and, most fascinating of all, traces word and phrase origins. As references go, it brings out the "lumber," looks "yard," and pretty much "touches 'em all." --Jeff Silverman

About the Author:

Paul Dickson (born in Yonkers, NY) is a freelance writer of more than 45 non-fiction books, mostly on (American) English language and popular culture. He has written many articles on a wide variety of subjects. He is a founding member and former president of Washington Independent Writers and a member of the National Press Club.Dickson coined the term "word word".

About this edition

• Publisher: Harvest Books
• Publication date: 1999
• ISBN 10: 0156005808
• ISBN 13: 9780156005807
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 579