ABSTRACT
Once upon a time, not so terribly long ago, newspaper editors referred to their sports desks as ‘the Toy Department’. In recognition of the seemingly unslakeable public thirst for information, and the profits engendered by satisfying that demand, the sneering has all but abated. Indeed, erstwhile sports editors such as Simon Kelner and Charles Burgess have attained more ‘serious’ and senior editorial positions on national titles. Lent lustre and status by novelists ranging from Bernard Malamud to Nick Hornby, sport occupies a parallel universe while constantly being cited as a metaphor for life. Hence the assimilation of sporting phrases into everyday speech, not least by politicians seeking connections with the great unwashed. Check out how many sporting colloquialisms or metaphors George W. Bush packs into an average speech, or Tony Blair, or how many times you hear any official of any description spouting phrases such as ‘It’s just not cricket’ or ‘They haven’t even got to first base’ or ‘You’re well offside, Minister’. Sport, in short, is an Esperanto that works. More often than not.
