Sports are notorious for slang and words that take on wholly new meanings. If nothing else, they demonstrate the flexibility of English. But more profoundly, they prove that short forms can replace longer constructions and phrases.
The basketball expressions in the first list below are part of the lexicons of not only sports fans but also of seasoned journalists who need to target the words to their audiences.
Try matching phrases 1-20 with their corresponding (longer and, admittedly, clumsier) forms listed under a-t.
An answer key is provided below.
- a baller
- the bigs
- to break ankles
- to kill the clock
- to deny
- to dish
- to drain or sink (a shot)
- garbage time
- a trey
- open looks
- to kick it out
- (to be) money
- to posterize
- to pound the boards
- to take care of the ball
- to ride a player
- the rock
- to throw up bricks
- to ride the pine
- a stop
a. the basketball
b. to guard opposing players closely and prevent the ball from being passed around
c. to play carefully on offense to avoid losing the ball to the other team
d. a player that performs at a consistently high level
e. a successful play by a team’s defense to thwart the opponent’s offense
f. a three-point shot
g. to score a basket from a long distance
h. to continue giving the ball to a player who has been scoring points
i. to pass the ball from underneath the basket to a teammate along the perimeter
j. to make a game-saving play
k. the tall players
l. to use fast footwork and change direction to throw an opponent off balance
m. to aggressively fight for rebounds under the basket
n. opportunities to shoot the ball when faced with little or no defense
o. to sit on the bench during a game for long periods of time
p. to control the game (on offense) and take as much time as possible
q. to pass the ball to another player (who makes a basket)
r. late in the game when the outcome is clear and points are easily made
s. to shoot poorly; to miss many shots
t. to dunk the ball forcefully over an opposing player, usually while facing that player
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1.d 2.k 3.l 4.p 5.b 6.q 7.g 8.r 9.f 10.n 11.i 12.j 13.t 14.m 15.c 16.h 17.a 18.s 19.o 20.e
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