WITH two continents, South America and Europe, at the moment totally absorbed with football and the fallout of their main competitions, it’s easy to see how heavily football, and other sports, influence our language.
English is peppered with phrases and expressions that reference the sport, or sport in general.
I could kick off with a number of examples… “She decided to kick off the session with a stern lecture”, or “It all kicked off soon after the meeting ended”. Or I could say from the kick-off, meaning from the start … “There was fast and furious action from the kick-off”.
You could be accused of moving the goalposts, meaning that someone thinks you’re changing the rules while something is still going on. I tend to think the term’s origins are not so much in the formal game but in the informal, impromptu backyard games where coats, schoolbags and sometimes large stones served as goalposts (which could be moved closer together, maybe surreptitiously, if the opponents were doing better than expected).
If you’re watching from the sidelines, you’re not taking part in the action – especially if you’re then also suggesting how things should be done differently. An example would be “You should contribute some money or lend a hand instead of just watching from the sidelines”.
A level playing field describes a situation in which both sides of a disagreement or a conflict have the same opportunities … it comes from the fact that in football both sides need to be able to play in all parts of the field, on both sides of the centre line, and if the field slopes away on one side one team or the other will have an advantage.
Someone who has an open goal has an unopposed chance to progress or gain an advantage during something that is usually contested. To “miss an open goal” is to fail in a situation where everything is in your favour.
A clean sheet usually refers to a team managing to protect its goal for the whole of a game … so that the other team fails to score against them… “Liverpool kept a clean sheet during the Cup final”. The phrase may have come from the way that goals were recorded on separate sheets of paper for each team.
It can also mean a fresh start… “He started with a clean sheet after being pardoned and moving to a new area where no-one knew him”.
Someone who is warming the bench is someone who is not contributing but is taking up a place in the team. In football the term refers to a team member who is on the substitutes’ bench but not yet playing. They may be called on later if needed.
If you take your eye off the ball you lose focus, or you let your mind wander or you stop paying attention…. “He took his eye off the ball for just a moment, and his rival took advantage with the winning bid.”
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