Inside baseball (metaphor)

In American slang, the term inside baseball refers to the minutiae and detailed inner workings of a system that are only interesting to, or appreciated by, experts, insiders, and aficionados.[1][2] The phrase was originally used as a sports metaphor in political contexts, but has expanded to discussions of other topics as well.[1] Language commentator William Safire wrote that the term refers to details about a subject that require such a specific knowledge about what is being discussed that the nuances are not understood or appreciated by outsiders.[3]

Look up inside baseball in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Etymology

The term originated in the 1890s referring to a particular style of playing the game which relied on singles, walks, bunts, and stolen bases rather than power hitting. Within a few decades the term was being used to mean highly specialized knowledge about baseball, and by the 1950s it was being applied to politics.[4]

References
  1. The Oxford Dictionary of American Political Slang. Ed. Grant Barrett. Oxford University Press, 2004 (paperback ed. 2006). p. 5-6. ISBN 0195304470
  2. "Inside baseball". Grammarist. 11 June 2012. Retrieved 27 July 2018.
  3. Safire, William (June 19, 1988). "On Language; Inside Baseball". New York Times Magazine. Retrieved 28 February 2012.
  4. "The Inside Scoop on 'Inside Baseball'". Merriam Webster.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.