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{{short description|US slang expression}} |
{{short description|US slang expression}} |
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{{About|an American slang term|the Hank Williams Jr album|Out of Left Field}} |
{{About|an American slang term|the Hank Williams Jr album|Out of Left Field}} |
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"'''Out of left field'''" (also "'''out in left field'''", and simply "'''left field'''" or "'''leftfield'''") is American slang meaning "unexpected", "odd" or "strange". |
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== Usage == |
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Popular music historian [[Arnold Shaw (author)|Arnold Shaw]] wrote in 1949 for the [[Music Library Association]] that the term "out of left field" was first used in the idiomatic sense of "from out of nowhere" by the [[music industry]] to refer to a song that unexpectedly performed well in the market.<ref name=Shaw1949>{{cite journal |last=Shaw |first=Arnold | |
In ''Safire's Political Dictionary'', columnist [[William Safire]] writes that the phrase "out of left field" means "out of the ordinary, out of touch, far out."<ref name=Safire2008>{{cite book |last=Safire |first=William |author-link=William Safire |title=Safire's Political Dictionary |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=c4UoX6-Sv1AC&pg=PA384 |year=2008 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0195343342 |page=384}}</ref> The variation "out in left field" means alternately "removed from the ordinary, unconventional" or "out of contact with reality, out of touch."<ref name=Safire2008/> He opines that the term has only a tangential connection to the political left or the [[Left Coast]], political slang for the coastal states of the American west. <ref name=Safire2008/> |
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== Origins == |
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{{see also|Baseball positions}} |
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Popular music historian [[Arnold Shaw (author)|Arnold Shaw]] wrote in 1949 for the [[Music Library Association]] that the term "out of left field" was first used in the idiomatic sense of "from out of nowhere" by the [[music industry]] to refer to a song that unexpectedly performed well in the market.<ref name=Shaw1949>{{cite journal |last=Shaw |first=Arnold |author-link=Arnold Shaw (author) |date=December 1949 |title=The Vocabulary of Tin-Pan Alley Explained |journal=Notes |publisher=[[Music Library Association]] |volume=7 |issue=1 |pages=33–53 |jstor=889665 |quote=Out of left field. Used with reference to a song that unexpectedly does well. Expression, obviously adapted from baseball, goes: 'That was a hit out of left field.' Implication is that song was not a plug song and that no work was done on it until sales and performances developed of themselves. |doi=10.2307/889665}}</ref> Based on baseball lingo, a sentence such as "That was a hit out of left field" was used by [[song plugger]]s who promoted recordings and sheet music, to describe a song requiring no effort to sell.<ref name=Shaw1949/> A "rocking chair hit" was the kind of song which came "out of left field" and sold itself, allowing the song plugger to relax.<ref name=Shaw1949/> A 1943 article in [[Billboard (magazine)|''Billboard'']] expands the use to describe people unexpectedly drawn to radio broadcasting: |
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{{Quote|Latest twist in radio linked with the war is the exceptional number of quasi-clerical groups and individuals who have come out of left field in recent months and are trying to buy, not promote, radio time.<ref>{{cite journal |date=April 24, 1943 |title=Religion All of a Sudden: Groups With Self-Styled Piety Capitalizing on War Nerves by Buys on Indies But Nets Sneer |journal=The Billboard |publisher=Nielsen Business Media |volume=55 |issue=17 |page=8 |issn=0006-2510}}</ref>}} |
{{Quote|Latest twist in radio linked with the war is the exceptional number of quasi-clerical groups and individuals who have come out of left field in recent months and are trying to buy, not promote, radio time.<ref>{{cite journal |date=April 24, 1943 |title=Religion All of a Sudden: Groups With Self-Styled Piety Capitalizing on War Nerves by Buys on Indies But Nets Sneer |journal=The Billboard |publisher=Nielsen Business Media |volume=55 |issue=17 |page=8 |issn=0006-2510}}</ref>}} |
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Further instances of the phrase were published in the 1940s, including |
Further instances of the phrase were published in the 1940s, including in ''Billboard'' and once in a humor book titled ''How to Be Poor.''<ref>{{cite journal |last=Smith |first=Bill |date=February 8, 1947 |title=Follow-up Review |journal=The Billboard |publisher=Nielsen Business Media |page=39 |issn=0006-2510 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nkUEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA39}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Webman |first1=Hal |last2=Fischler |first2=Alan |date=June 19, 1948 |title=The Record Year |journal=The Billboard |publisher=Nielsen Business Media |page=14 |issn=0006-2510 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ifUDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA14}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Fay|first=Frank|title=How to Be Poor|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5xIMAQAAIAAJ&q=%22out+of+left+field%22|year=1945|publisher=Prentice-Hall|page=47}}</ref> |
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| ⚫ | In May 1981, Safire asked readers of ''[[The New York Times]]'' to send him any ideas they had regarding the origin of the phrase "out of left field"—he did not know where it came from, and did not refer to Shaw's work.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1981/05/10/books/word-watchers-at-work.html |title=Word-Watchers at Work |last=Safire |first=William |author-link=William Safire |date=May 10, 1981 |work=The New York Times |access-date=May 9, 2012}}</ref> On June 28, 1981, he devoted most of his Sunday column to the phrase, offering up various responses he received.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1981/07/01/sports/red-smith-sportspeak-and-stuff.html |title=Sportspeak and Stuff |last=Smith |first=Red |author-link=Red Smith (sportswriter) |date=July 1, 1981 |work=The New York Times |access-date=May 9, 2012}}</ref><ref name=Safire1981>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1981/06/28/magazine/text-hj-s-at-39-inches.html |title=Out Of Left Field |last=Safire |first=William |author-link=William Safire |date=June 28, 1981 |work=The New York Times |access-date=May 9, 2012}}</ref> The earliest scholarly citation Safire could find was a 1961 article in the journal ''[[American Speech]]'', which defined the variation "out in left field" as meaning "disoriented, out of contact with reality."<ref name=Safire1981/><ref>{{cite journal |last=Hukill |first=Peter B. |date=May 1961 |title=The Spoken Language of Medicine: Argot, Slang, Cant |journal=[[American Speech]] |publisher=The American Dialect Society |volume=36 |issue=2 |pages=145–151 |jstor=453853 |doi=10.2307/453853}}</ref> |
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| ⚫ | Linguist [[John Algeo]] told Safire that the phrase most likely came from baseball observers rather than from baseball fans or players.<ref>{{cite book |last=Safire |first=William |author-link=William Safire |editor=John Thorn |title=The Complete Armchair Book of Baseball: An All-Star Lineup Celebrates America's National Pastime |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NAPaOOrSVywC&pg=PA271 |year=1997 |publisher=Sterling Publishing |isbn=1578660041 |pages=270–273 |chapter=Out of Left Field}}</ref> |
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| ⚫ | In 1998, American English professor [[Robert L. Chapman]], in his book ''American Slang'', wrote that the phrase "out of left field" was in use by 1953.<ref>{{cite book |last=Chapman |first=Robert L. |author-link=Robert L. Chapman |title=American Slang |url=https://archive.org/details/americanslang00chap |url-access=registration |edition=2 |year=1998 |publisher=HarperCollins |isbn=0062732935 |page=[https://archive.org/details/americanslang00chap/page/374 374]}}</ref> He did not cite Shaw's work and he did not point to printed instances of the phrase in the 1940s. Marcus Callies, an associate professor of English and philology at the [[University of Mainz]] in Germany, wrote that "the precise origin is unclear and disputed", referring to Christine Ammer's conclusion in ''The American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms''.<ref name=Callies2011>{{cite book |last1=Callies |first1=Marcus |last2=Keller |first2=Wolfram R. |last3=Lohöfer |first3=Astrid |title=Bi-Directionality in the Cognitive Sciences: Avenues, Challenges, and Limitations |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SC3cBXfj4UcC&pg=PA74 |series=Human Cognitive Processing |volume=30 |year=2011 |publisher=John Benjamins Publishing |isbn=978-9027223845 |page=74 |chapter=Widening the goalposts of cognitive metaphor research}}</ref> Callies suggested that the left fielder in baseball might throw the ball to [[home plate]] in an effort to get the runner out before he scores, and that the ball, coming from behind the runner out of left field, would surprise the runner.<ref name=Callies2011/> |
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==Later explanations== |
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| ⚫ | In May 1981, |
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| ⚫ | Linguist [[John Algeo]] told Safire that the phrase most likely came from baseball observers rather than from baseball fans or players.<ref>{{cite book |last=Safire |first=William | |
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| ⚫ | According to the 2007 ''Concise New Partridge Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English'', the phrase came from [[baseball]] terminology, referring to a play in which the ball is thrown from the area covered by the [[left fielder]] to either home plate or first base, surprising the runner. Variations include "out in left field" and simply "left field".<ref name="Partridge">{{cite book |last1=Partridge |first1=Eric |author-link1=Eric Partridge |last2=Dalzell |first2=Tom |last3=Victor |first3=Terry |title=The Concise New Partridge Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7UIjVGcSe8MC&pg=PA396 |year=2007 |publisher=Psychology Press |isbn=978-0415212595|page=396}}</ref> |
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In ''Safire's Political Dictionary'', Safire writes that the phrase "out of left field" means "out of the ordinary, out of touch, far out."<ref name=Safire2008>{{cite book |last=Safire |first=William |authorlink=William Safire |title=Safire's Political Dictionary |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=c4UoX6-Sv1AC&pg=PA384 |year=2008 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=0195343344 |page=384}}</ref> The variation "out in left field" means alternately "removed from the ordinary, unconventional" or "out of contact with reality, out of touch."<ref name=Safire2008/> He compares the term to [[left-wing politics]] and the [[Left Coast]]—slang for the liberal-leaning coastal cities in California, Oregon and Washington.<ref name=Safire2008/> |
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At the site of the University of Illinois Medical Center in Chicago, Illinois, a 2008 plaque marks the site of the former West Side Park, where the Chicago Cubs played from 1893 to 1915. The plaque states that the location of the county hospital and its psychiatric patients just beyond left field is the origin of the phrase "way out in left field."<ref>{{Cite web |title=West Side Grounds: Home Field of the Chicago National League Ball Club from 1893 to 1915 |url=https://historyillinois.org/west-side-grounds-home-field-of-the-chicago-national-league-ball-club-from-1893-to-1915/ |access-date=2024-09-06 |website=Illinois State Historical Society |language=en-US}}</ref> |
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| ⚫ | In 1998, American English professor [[Robert L. Chapman]], in his book ''American Slang'', wrote that the phrase "out of left field" was in use by 1953.<ref>{{cite book |last=Chapman |first=Robert L. | |
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==See also== |
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From the Way Out In Left Field Society: |
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*[[Leftfield]], electronic music group |
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"The phrase "way out in left field" has evolved to mean an eccentric, odd, misguided or peculiar statement or act. Although the origin of the phrase has been challenged and debated over the years, the most logical and realistic explanation comes from an extinct baseball park called West Side Grounds that the Chicago Cubs called home from 1893 to 1915. As legend has it, a mental hospital called the Neuropsychiatric Institute was located directly behind the left field wall. The Institute housed mental patients who could be heard making strange and bizarre comments within listening distance of players and fans. Thus, if someone said that you were "way out in left field," the person was questioning your sanity and comparing you with a mental patient"<ref>{{cite web|title=The Way Out in Left Field Society|url=http://www.bc3200.com/twoilfs/jumppage.htm}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Cubs originally called West Side home|url=http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20080618&content_id=2954187&vkey=news_chc&fext=.jsp&c_id=chc}}</ref> |
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==References== |
==References== |
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Latest revision as of 05:05, 7 December 2024
"Out of left field" (also "out in left field", and simply "left field" or "leftfield") is American slang meaning "unexpected", "odd" or "strange".
Usage
[edit]In Safire's Political Dictionary, columnist William Safire writes that the phrase "out of left field" means "out of the ordinary, out of touch, far out."[1] The variation "out in left field" means alternately "removed from the ordinary, unconventional" or "out of contact with reality, out of touch."[1] He opines that the term has only a tangential connection to the political left or the Left Coast, political slang for the coastal states of the American west. [1]
Origins
[edit]Popular music historian Arnold Shaw wrote in 1949 for the Music Library Association that the term "out of left field" was first used in the idiomatic sense of "from out of nowhere" by the music industry to refer to a song that unexpectedly performed well in the market.[2] Based on baseball lingo, a sentence such as "That was a hit out of left field" was used by song pluggers who promoted recordings and sheet music, to describe a song requiring no effort to sell.[2] A "rocking chair hit" was the kind of song which came "out of left field" and sold itself, allowing the song plugger to relax.[2] A 1943 article in Billboard expands the use to describe people unexpectedly drawn to radio broadcasting:
Latest twist in radio linked with the war is the exceptional number of quasi-clerical groups and individuals who have come out of left field in recent months and are trying to buy, not promote, radio time.[3]
Further instances of the phrase were published in the 1940s, including in Billboard and once in a humor book titled How to Be Poor.[4][5][6]
In May 1981, Safire asked readers of The New York Times to send him any ideas they had regarding the origin of the phrase "out of left field"—he did not know where it came from, and did not refer to Shaw's work.[7] On June 28, 1981, he devoted most of his Sunday column to the phrase, offering up various responses he received.[8][9] The earliest scholarly citation Safire could find was a 1961 article in the journal American Speech, which defined the variation "out in left field" as meaning "disoriented, out of contact with reality."[9][10] Linguist John Algeo told Safire that the phrase most likely came from baseball observers rather than from baseball fans or players.[11]
In 1998, American English professor Robert L. Chapman, in his book American Slang, wrote that the phrase "out of left field" was in use by 1953.[12] He did not cite Shaw's work and he did not point to printed instances of the phrase in the 1940s. Marcus Callies, an associate professor of English and philology at the University of Mainz in Germany, wrote that "the precise origin is unclear and disputed", referring to Christine Ammer's conclusion in The American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms.[13] Callies suggested that the left fielder in baseball might throw the ball to home plate in an effort to get the runner out before he scores, and that the ball, coming from behind the runner out of left field, would surprise the runner.[13]
According to the 2007 Concise New Partridge Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, the phrase came from baseball terminology, referring to a play in which the ball is thrown from the area covered by the left fielder to either home plate or first base, surprising the runner. Variations include "out in left field" and simply "left field".[14]
At the site of the University of Illinois Medical Center in Chicago, Illinois, a 2008 plaque marks the site of the former West Side Park, where the Chicago Cubs played from 1893 to 1915. The plaque states that the location of the county hospital and its psychiatric patients just beyond left field is the origin of the phrase "way out in left field."[15]
See also
[edit]- Leftfield, electronic music group
References
[edit]- ^ a b c Safire, William (2008). Safire's Political Dictionary. Oxford University Press. p. 384. ISBN 978-0195343342.
- ^ a b c Shaw, Arnold (December 1949). "The Vocabulary of Tin-Pan Alley Explained". Notes. 7 (1). Music Library Association: 33–53. doi:10.2307/889665. JSTOR 889665.
Out of left field. Used with reference to a song that unexpectedly does well. Expression, obviously adapted from baseball, goes: 'That was a hit out of left field.' Implication is that song was not a plug song and that no work was done on it until sales and performances developed of themselves.
- ^ "Religion All of a Sudden: Groups With Self-Styled Piety Capitalizing on War Nerves by Buys on Indies But Nets Sneer". The Billboard. 55 (17). Nielsen Business Media: 8. April 24, 1943. ISSN 0006-2510.
- ^ Smith, Bill (February 8, 1947). "Follow-up Review". The Billboard. Nielsen Business Media: 39. ISSN 0006-2510.
- ^ Webman, Hal; Fischler, Alan (June 19, 1948). "The Record Year". The Billboard. Nielsen Business Media: 14. ISSN 0006-2510.
- ^ Fay, Frank (1945). How to Be Poor. Prentice-Hall. p. 47.
- ^ Safire, William (May 10, 1981). "Word-Watchers at Work". The New York Times. Retrieved May 9, 2012.
- ^ Smith, Red (July 1, 1981). "Sportspeak and Stuff". The New York Times. Retrieved May 9, 2012.
- ^ a b Safire, William (June 28, 1981). "Out Of Left Field". The New York Times. Retrieved May 9, 2012.
- ^ Hukill, Peter B. (May 1961). "The Spoken Language of Medicine: Argot, Slang, Cant". American Speech. 36 (2). The American Dialect Society: 145–151. doi:10.2307/453853. JSTOR 453853.
- ^ Safire, William (1997). "Out of Left Field". In John Thorn (ed.). The Complete Armchair Book of Baseball: An All-Star Lineup Celebrates America's National Pastime. Sterling Publishing. pp. 270–273. ISBN 1578660041.
- ^ Chapman, Robert L. (1998). American Slang (2 ed.). HarperCollins. p. 374. ISBN 0062732935.
- ^ a b Callies, Marcus; Keller, Wolfram R.; Lohöfer, Astrid (2011). "Widening the goalposts of cognitive metaphor research". Bi-Directionality in the Cognitive Sciences: Avenues, Challenges, and Limitations. Human Cognitive Processing. Vol. 30. John Benjamins Publishing. p. 74. ISBN 978-9027223845.
- ^ Partridge, Eric; Dalzell, Tom; Victor, Terry (2007). The Concise New Partridge Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English. Psychology Press. p. 396. ISBN 978-0415212595.
- ^ "West Side Grounds: Home Field of the Chicago National League Ball Club from 1893 to 1915". Illinois State Historical Society. Retrieved 2024-09-06.