English sports idioms

HANOI OPEN UNIVERSITY
FACULTY OF ENGLISH

GRADUATION PAPER
B.A DEGREE IN ENGLISH

ENGLISH SPORTS IDIOMS

Supervisor: Lê Thị Ánh Tuyết, M.A.
Student: Bùi Vân Nga
Date of birth:14/12/1993
Course: K18A2(2011-2015)

Hanoi - 2015
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DECLARATION

Title: English Sports Idioms

I certify that no part of the above report has been copied or reproduced by me from
any other person’s work without acknowledgement and that the report is originally
written by me under very strict guidance of my supervisor.

Hanoi, April 27th , 2015

Student

Supervisor

Bùi Vân Nga

Lê Thị Ánh Tuyết

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
First of all, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to Ms Le Thi Anh Tuyet,
my supervisor, for her outstanding support and precious advice that have helped me
accomplish this paper.
I also want to express my thanks to all the teachers at the faculty, especially my
supervisor, who gave me great guidance in my first days of seeking the topic.
In addition, my thanks are also sent to my family and friends who provide me lots
of encouragement and assistance during the time of finishing the study.

Hanoi, April 2015

Bùi Vân Nga

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CONTENTS
PART A: INTRODUCTION .................................................................................. 6
1.Rationale................................................................................................................. 6
2. Aims and Objectives of the Study......................................................................... 7
3. Scope of the Study................................................................................................. 7
4. Methods of the Study ............................................................................................ 8
5. Design of the Study ............................................................................................... 8

PART B: DEVELOPMENT................................................................................... 9
CHAPTER 1:LITERATURE REVIEW ............................................................... 9
1.1. IDIOMS ........................................................................................................ 9
1.1.1.What Is an Idiom? ...................................................................................... 9
1.1.2. Idiom and Culture ................................................................................... 11
1.1.3. Parlance ................................................................................................... 12
1.1.4. Classification........................................................................................... 12
1.2. SPORTS ........................................................................................................ 17
1.2.1. What Is Sport?......................................................................................... 17
1.2.2. Etymology ............................................................................................... 17
1.2.3. History..................................................................................................... 17
1.2.4. Classification of Sports ........................................................................... 18
CHAPTER 2: THE STUDY ABOUT SPORTS IDIOMS ................................. 20
2.1. PROCEDURE ............................................................................................... 20
2.2.DATA COLLECTION .................................................................................. 20
2.2.1. In Terms of Frequency ............................................................................ 21
2.2.2 In Terms of Structure ............................................................................... 22
2.2.3 In Terms of Semantics ............................................................................. 22
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2.3. SPORTS IDIOMS IN ENGLISH ................................................................. 23
2.3.1 TEAM SPORTS IDIOMS ....................................................................... 23
2.3.2. WATER SPORTS IDIOMS ................................................................... 30
2.3.3. TRACK AND FIELD HORSE RACING IDIOMS. .............................. 34
2.3.4. HUNTING AND SHOOTING IDIOMS ................................................ 37
2.3.5. COMBAT SPORTS IDIOMS ................................................................ 40
2.3.6. TARGET BALL SPORTS IDIOMS ...................................................... 43
2.3.7. TENNIS AND COURT IDIOMS ........................................................... 45
2.3.8. SKYDIVING AND FLYING IDIOMS.................................................. 45

2.3.9. GAME AND CARDS IDIOMS ............................................................. 46
CHAPTER 3: APPLICATION OF THE STUDY ............................................. 49
3.1. APPLICAION IN COMMUNICATION: .................................................... 49
3.2. APPLICATION IN TEACHING AND LEARNING IDIOMS ................... 49
PART C: CONCLUSION..................................................................................... 56
REFERENCES ...................................................................................................... 58

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INTRODUCTION
1. Rationale
A language is a system of visual, auditory, or tactile symbols of communication
and the rules used to manipulate them. Language can also refer to the use of such
systems as a general phenomenon. Language is considered to be an exclusively
human mode of communication; although other animals make use of quite
sophisticated communicative systems, none of these is known to make use of all of
the properties that linguists use to define language.
English is always described as the first global lingua franca. English is the
dominant international language in communications, science, business, aviation,
entertainment, radio and diplomacy. The influence of the British Empire is the
primary reason for the initial spread of the language far beyond the British Isles.
Since World War II, the growing economic and cultural influence of the United
States has significantly accelerated the adoption of English. A working knowledge
of English is required in certain fields, professions and occupations. As a result,
over a billion people speak English at least at a basic level. English is one of six
official languages of the United Nations. Approximately 375 million people speak
English as their first language, as of 2006. English today is probably the third
largest language by number of native speakers, after Mandarin Chinese and
Spanish. However, when combining native and non- native speakers it is probably

the most commonly spoken language in the world, though possibly second to a
combination of the Chinese languages, depending on whether or not distinctions in
the latter are classified as “languages” or “dialects”. Estimates that include second
language speakers vary greatly from 470 million to over a billion depending on
how literacy or mastery is defined.
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At present, more and more Vietnamese people have been learning English in hope
of being able to communicate well with native speakers. However, they often find
it hard to have an approach with foreigner because language generally and English
particularly is not simply a normal system of sounds, words, and grammatical
structures, it has developed its own way. English people often tend to use idiomatic
expressions that not all English learners know exactly their meaning. In fact,
idioms have long played an important role in English and Vietnamese language as
well, and the use of idiom is definitely widespread, which makes us feel necessary
to know and understand English idioms as many as we can.
In my graduation paper, I would like to study English sports idioms in attempt to
help English learners be capable of using English partly as native speakers do.

2. Aims and Objectives of the Study
There is an undeniable fact that idioms make a lot of learners confused in using
them effectively and correctly. Understanding most of all idioms is quite hard for
them. Thus, studying the issue basing on colorful topics is actually useful. To be
honest, the main purpose of this study is to help myself get more knowledge on
idioms in general and sports idioms in particular. Besides, I hope that those who are
keen on idioms will find something new and interesting in my study.

3. Scope of the Study
Due to the limitation of a graduation paper as well as my knowledge, I do not have

intention of covering all the matters that are related to idioms. Therefore, I just
focus on English sports idioms that are the most interesting and popular. Apart
from that main part, I also mention general views of idioms and the applications of
the study.
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4. Methods of the Study
The study is planned to bring readers an introduction and analysis the deprived
meaning of English sports idioms used commonly in daily life through their literal
meaning almost used in sports. Hence, to achieve the above aims, some study
methods are used and applied as follows:
- Data collection method: to gather English sports idioms from lots of sources such
as books, internet….
- Statistics, quality, quantity method: to find out what kind of sports that consists of
the most idioms and what grammatical structures frequently used in sports idioms.
-Analysis method: to figure out how amazingly interesting sports idioms figurative
meaning is.

5. Design of the Study
My graduation paper is clearly divided into three parts and three chapters as
follows:
PART A: INTRODUCTION
It consists of the rationale, scope, aims, methods and design of the study.
PART B: DEVELOPMENT
Chapter 1: An overview of idioms and sports is introduced in this chapter
Chapter 2: Statistics tables are shown to find out what kind of sports and what
grammatical structures are used most in sports idioms.
The most interesting idioms of each kind of sports are analyzed are explained
together with specific examples.

Chapter 3:The application of the study in communication, teaching and learning.
PART C: CONCLUSION
All the mentioned chapters are summed up and my viewpoint on sports idioms
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DEVELOPMENT
CHAPTER 1
LITERATURE REVIEW

1.1.

IDIOMS

1.1.1. What Is an Idiom?
Idioms, which can easily be found in any languages, are widely used in daily life.
Therefore, to learn and understand them is really essential for those who desire to
master a language. Obviously, English is not an exception as it contains a lot of
interesting idioms with all kinds. In spite of the undeniable popularity of idioms, it
will be a rather hard challenge for any linguists to define what idiom is because
each linguist has her own viewpoint about the definition of idiom. Below are some
of the most popular definitions of idioms:
It is quoted in Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary: “An idiom is a group of
words in a fixed order that has a particular meaning that is different from the
meanings of each word understood on its own.”
Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary defines: “An idiom is a phrase or a
sentence whose meaning is not clear from the meaning of its individual words and
which must be learned as the whole unit.”
(Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary,1991,p 616)
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary in English refers: “ An idioms is a group of

words whose meaning is different from the meaning of each separate word put
together.”
(Longman Dictionary of Contemporary in English,1995,p708)
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Wikipedia cites: “An idiom is an expression, which is a term or phrase whose
meaning cannot be deduced from the literal definitions and the arrangement of its
parts, but refers instead to a figurative meaning that is known only through
common use.”
( />A definition in Wester’s New World College Dictionary is “ An idiom is a phrase,
construction or expression that is recognized as a unit in the usage of given
language and either differ from the usual syntactic pattern of its parts taken
together.”
(Wester’s New World College Dictionary, 1997,p5)
In Vietnamese, an idiom is defined as follows:
“ Thành ngữ là một cụm từ cố đinh gồm hai hoặc ba từ và không thể hiểu được
nghĩa bằng cách ghép nghĩa riêng của từng từ với nhau.”
(Thành Ngữ Tiếng Anh Giàu Hình Ảnh, 1999, p10)
“ Thành ngữ là tập hợp từ cố định đã quen dùng mà nghĩa của nó không thể giải
thích một cách đơn giản bằng nghĩa của các tử tạo nên nó.”
(Từ điển Tiếng Việt, 1988)
“ Thành ngữ là một loại tổ hợp từ cố định, bền vững về hình thái, cấu trúc, hoàn
chỉnh, bong bẩy về nghĩa, được sử dụng rộng rãi trong giao tiếp hàng ngày.”
(Thành ngữ học tiếng Việt, 2004, p25)

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“ Thành ngữ là một phần câu sẵn có, nó là một bộ phận của câu mà nhiều người

quen dùng nhưng tự nó không diễn đạt được ý trọn vẹn.”
(Thành ngữ- Tục ngữ Việt Nam)

1.1.2. Idiom and Culture
An idiom is generally a colloquial metaphor, a term which requires some
foundation knowledge, information, or experience, to use only within a culture
where parties must have common reference. Idioms are, therefore, not considered a
part of the language, but rather a part of a culture. As cultures are typically
localized, idioms are more often useful for that local context. However, some
idioms can be more universally used than others, and they can be easily translated;
metaphorical meaning can be more easily deduced.
The most common idioms can have deep roots, date back many centuries, and be
traceable across many languages. “To have blood on one’s hands” is a familiar
example, whose meaning is relatively obvious, although the context within English
literature may not be. Many have been translates in other languages, and tend to
become international.
While many idioms are clearly based on conceptual metaphors such as “time as a
substance”, “time as a path”, “love as war” or “up is more”, the idioms themselves
are often not particularly essential, even when the metaphors themselves are. For
example, “spend time”, “battle of the sexes”, and “back in the day” are idiomatic
and based on essential metaphors, but one can communicate perfectly well with or
without them. These “deep metaphors” and their relationship to human cognition
are discussed by George Lakoff and Mark Johnson (1980).
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In forms like “profits are up”, the metaphor is carried by “up” itself. The phrase
“profits are up” is not itself an idiom. Practically, anything measurable can be used
in place of “profits”: “crime is up”, “satisfaction is up”, “complaints are up”, etc.
Truly, essential idioms generally involve prepositions, for example “out of” or

“turn into”.
Interestingly, many Chinese characters are idiomatic constructs, as their meanings
are more often not traceable to a literal meaning of their assembled parts, or
radicals because all characters are composed from a relatively small base of about
214 radicals, their assembled meanings follow several different modes of
interpretation- from the pictographic to the metaphorical to those whose original
meaning has been lost in history. It may be a feature that helps everyday life.

1.1.3. Parlance
“Idiom” can also refer to the characteristic manners of speaking in a language, also
called its parlance. An utterance consistent with a language’s parlance is described
as idiomatic. For example, “I have hunger” is idiomatic in several European
languages if translated literally (E.g Dutch ik heb honger, German ich habe hunger;
French j’ai taim; Spanish tengo hambre; Italian ho fame), but the usual English
idiom is “I am hungry”.

1.1.4. Classification
Idioms are classified into many ways with different criteria namely function,
motivation, origin, subject and key word, etc. However, in this study, I only have a
special focus on their function, motivation and origin.

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1.1.4.1. In Terms of Their Functions
Idioms functioning as noun phrases:
- Noun pair: The coordinator “and” is used to link a pair of nouns.
Neck and neck (horse racing) – To be in a close tie with someone
The pros and cons – The advantage and disadvantage
Fun and game – Entertainment games

-

Adjective + Noun: Noun as the main element in the phrase
Heavy weight (boxing) – A person of great influence or importance
Heavy hitter (boxing) – An important of influential individual or
organization
Low blow (boxing) – An unscrupulous or unfair attack, action, or insult
Sticky wicket (cricket) – To be difficult or troublesome
A long shot (hunting) – Very difficult to do

- Noun + Prepositional phrase
Roll with the punches (boxing) – To take adversity in stride; to adapt to
difficult circumstances
Par for the course (golf) – An expected circumstance
Shot in the dark (hunting) – A guess
Hurler on the ditch (hurling) – A non- participant who criticizes from
outside
Idioms functioning as verb phrases:
- Verb pair: “And” is used as the linking device between two verbs
Give and take
Come and go
Hum and haw
- Phrase verb: Most verbs combine with particles
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To kick off (football) – To start
To play along with (sports generally) – To coordinate
To get over – To recover
To look up to – To respect

- Verb phrase: Verbs and prepositional phrases or noun phrases
To take a rain check (baseball) – To accept at a later time
To throw in the towel (boxing) - To give up
Take the bull by the horns (bull fighting) – To accept challenge and try
your hardest
To race against time (track) – There is almost no time left to accomplish
something
To learn the ropes (sailing) - To understand new things
To hold all the aces (cards) – Expected to win or succeed
Idioms functioning as prepositional phrases:
Down and out (boxing) – To be in a bad situation and to need help
Over and above – Beside
Of old – Formerly
Of late – Recently
Idioms functioning like comparative structures
- With “like” structure:
Swim like a fish (swimming) – Swim very well
Go like a bomb (track) – Drive very fast
- With “as…as” structure:
As cold as ice – Very cold
As busy as a bee – Very busy
As bright as the light – Very bright
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As hot as fine – Very hot
1.1.4.2. In Terms of Their Meaning
Clearly, there is no need to have an argument on the very popularity of idioms.
However, some of them are easy to guess the meaning whereas the rest of them are
nearly unable to predict the meaning. Idioms, therefore, can be divided into two

following kinds:
Idioms with predictable meaning
No sweat – No problem
Saved by the bell (boxing) – To be saved from misfortune or
unpleasantness by a timely interruption
The ball is in your court (tennis) – It’s your decision or responsibility to do
something now
Win by a nose (horse racing) – To finish just a little better than the next
person or business
Race against time – To hurry to meet a deadline
Idioms with unpredictable meaning
Seven sheets in the wind (sailing) – To be drunk, usually on alcohol
To be for the high jump (high jump) – To be in a very serious trouble
Give something a fair shake (gambling) – Try for a while before giving up
Not playing with a full deck of cards (cards) – Not having full brain
capacity
Get a second wind (sailing) – Having a burst of energy after tiring
1.1.4.3. In Terms of Their Origins
Idioms are produced in a variety of aspects of life namely sports, business,
military, agriculture etc.
Sport idioms:
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Bail out (sailing) – To help, to save
Bark up the wrong tree – To make a wrong choice
Business idioms:
Red ink – Debt
Sell hotcakes – To sell very quickly
Military idioms:

Armed to the teeth – To be heavily armed
To fight a losing battle
Agriculture idioms:
To put one’s hand to plough
Some interesting idioms have their own history, for example:
Armed to the teeth – To be heavily armed
This is a pirate phrase originating in Port Royal Jamaica in the 1600’s. Having
only single shot black powder weapons, they would carry many of these weapons
at once to keep up the fight. In addition, they carried a knife in their teeth for
maximum arms capability.

Break a leg – A wish of good luck
“Break a leg” is sourced in superstition. It is a wish of good luck, but the words
“wis” just the opposite. It was once common for people to believe in Sprites.
Sprites are actually spirits of ghosts that were believed to enjoy wrecking havoc
and causing trouble. If the Sprites heard you ask for something, they were reputed
to try to make the opposite happen. Telling someone to “break a leg” is an attempt
to outsmart the Sprites and in fact make something good happen, sort of a medieval
reserve psychology.
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Cooking with gas – To work fast
It is common that gas stoves have not always been the norm. Gas stoves started to
be available in the 1800’s, and until that time wood stoves were the standard. Now
you are “cooking with the gas” comes from an old advertisement for gas stoves.
The phrase suggests that gas is faster, easier, cleaner, better than cooking with
wood.

1.2. SPORTS

1.2.1. What Is Sport?
Sport is an activity that is governed by a set of rules or customs and often engaged
in competitions. Sports commonly refers to activities where the physical
capabilities of the competitor are the sole or primary determiner of the outcome
(winning or losing), but the term is also used to include activities such as mind
sports and motor sports where mental acuity or equipment quality are major factors.
1.2.2. Etymology
“Sport” comes from the old French with the meaning “leisure”.
1.2.3. History
There are artifacts and structures that suggest that the Chinese engaged in sporting
activities as early as 4000 BC. Gymnastics appears to have been a popular sport in
China’s ancient past. Monuments to the Pharaohs indicate that a number of sports,
including swimming and fishing, were well- developed and regulated several
thousands of years ago in ancient Egypt. Other Egyptian sports included javelin
throwing, high jump, and wrestling. Ancient Persian sports such as the traditional
Iranian martial art of Zourkhaneh had a close connection to the warfare skills.
Other sports that originate in Persia are polo and jousting.

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A wide range of sports were already established by the time of Ancient Greece and
the military culture and the development of sports in Greece influenced one another
considerably. Sports became such a prominent part of their culture that the Greeks
created the Olympic Games, which were held every four years in a small village in
the Peloponnesus called Olympia in ancient time.
Industrialization has brought increased leisure time to the citizens of developed and
developing countries, leading to more time for citizens to attend and follow
spectator sports, greater participation in athletic activities, and increased
accessibility. These trends continued with the advent of mass media and global

communication. Professionalism became prevalent, further adding to the increase
in sport’s popularity, as sports fans began following the exploits of professional
athletes through radio, television, and the internet- while enjoying the exercise and
competition associated with amateur participation in sports.
In the new millennium, new sports have been going further from the physical
aspect to the mental or psychological aspect of competing. Cyber sports
organization is getting more and more popular. Activities where the outcome is
determined by judgment over execution are considered performances or
competition.
1.2.4. Classification of Sports
There are many kinds of sports let alone traditional activities and games in each
region considered as sports partly. In an attempt to help readers recognize how
colorful sports are, one system for classifying sport is introduced below, based
more on the sport’s aim than on the actual mechanism. The examples given are
intended to be illustrative rather than comprehensive.
Sport – Opponent
• Combat (Wrestling, judo, karate, boxing, fencing, taekwondo ….)
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• Court (Tennis, shuttlecock sport, badminton, volleyball, squash, table
tennis…)
• Team ( Baseball, cricket and football (soccer) are the most popular globally,
with baseball being popular in the America and in Japan, cricket in the
Commonwealth of Nations and football being popular throughout the world.
Other examples include: Rugby, ice hockey, field hockey, softball, basket
ball …..)
Sport – Achievement
• Target (Archery, shooting…)
• Display (Gymnastics, bodybuilding, diving…)

• Strength (Weight- lifting, triple jump…)
Sport – Sports that fall into multiple categories
• Curling
• Paintball
On the whole, like in Vietnamese literature, idioms came into being very early and
had a profound effect in the spiritual life of English people. Idioms have a
tremendous vitality and hold a prime position. Idioms related to sports also become
such an essential part of English culture during history length. Sport idioms, as a
special way, have lived on today.

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CHAPTER 2
THE STUDY ABOUT SPORTS IDIOMS
The purpose of this part is to collect sports idioms to make the semantic meanings
and syntactic characteristics clear as well in order to figure out what is the most
widely- used sport in idioms. The study is based on the quantity, quality and
statistics methods.

2.1. PROCEDURE
To write my graduation paper with the topic of sports idioms, I firstly collected all
the idioms relating to sports from many sources namely books, internet links and
newspapers. After collecting them, I classified them into kinds of sports such as
team sports idioms, water sports idioms, track and field horse racing sports idioms,
combat sports idioms, cards and games idioms, skydiving and flying sports idioms,
tennis and court sports idioms, target ball sports idioms, hunting and shooting
idioms. Secondly, they were divided into 3 small categories: in terms of frequency,
structure, semantics to find out what kind of sports is used most in idioms and
understand more about sports idioms’ structure as well as semantics.

2.2. DATA COLLECTION
After studying books and searching information from various links on the Internet,
I have finally found 100 sports idioms and divided them into different categories as
follows.

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2.2.1. In Terms of Frequency
Kinds of sports

Total

Percentage

1

Water sports idioms

26

26

2

Team sports idioms

25

25

3

Track and field horse racing
sports idioms

12

12

4

Hunting & shooting idioms

14

14

5

Combat sports idioms

7

7

6

Target ball sports idioms

4

4

7

Tennis & court sports idioms

2

2

8

Skydiving & flying idioms

1

1

9

Games & cards idioms

11

11

Total

9
100
Table 2.1 – In terms of frequency

100

Looking at the table, it is very clear to realize the highest frequency is water sports
idioms and team sports idioms with 26 and 25 idioms respectively, as team sports
and water sports are often chosen to play and practice by a lot of people all over the
world. Hunting and shooting idioms (14), followed by Track and field horse racing
idioms(12); games and cards idioms(11) are less frequent. The table also reveals
that idioms which relate to combat, target ball, tennis court and skydiving & flying
sports are the least frequent with 7,4,2,1 in turn.

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2.2.2 In Terms of Structure
Patterns

Total

Percentage
(%)

1

Idioms functioning as verb phrases

74

74

2

Idioms functioning as noun phrases

14

14

3

Idioms functioning as prepositional

12

12

1

1

1

1

100

100

phrase
4

Idioms

functioning

like

comparative structures
5

S + V + Adv

Total

5

Table 2.2 – In terms of structure
Sports idioms functioning as verb phrases are the most widely- used with the total
of 74 idioms. Ranking the second are idioms functioning as noun and prepositional
phrases with 14 and 12 idioms respectively. Of 100 sports idioms I have studied,
there is only one idiom functioning as comparative structure and one idiom with
structure ( S+V+Adv).
2.2.3 In Terms of Semantics
Semantics

Total

Percentage (%)

1

Positive

35

35

2

Negative

33

33

3

Neutral

32

32

22

Total

3

100

100

Table 2.3 – In terms of semantics
In general, sports idioms’ level of semantics is quite equal as the table shows.
There are 37 idioms with positive meaning compared with 33 ones with negative
meaning and 32 ones with neutral meaning.

2.3. SPORTS IDIOMS IN ENGLISH
Sports, gambling and card games are a major part of the English way of living.
People in the United Kingdom work hard and play hard. They love to play, because
games have captured the English heart and mind. Terms associated with play
becoming Sports idioms generally originate from a specific sport such as baseball
or sailing. Over time these phrases have come to mean something that can be used
in everyday life. While most sports idioms can still be used when discussing about
sports, they are even more common in other areas of life, especially the business
world. To not understand the games, their terms and idioms hinder communication.
This study is meant to remedy this situation, to teach all who want to learn how to
“play the game”. If one understands the sport, the game and the way it is played,
one will understand the idiomatic expressions deprived from these games.

2.3.1 TEAM SPORTS IDIOMS
• Baseball idioms
Baseball is the most popular sport in the United States. Some call it the national
sport. “Major league” baseball teams have the best professional players and more

fans or people who watch the games. A baseball team has nine people: the pitcher,
the catcher, first, second and third basemen, the shortstop, the left, middle and right
fielders. Baseball is played on four bases, first, second, third and home, on a
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diamond shaped field. The pitcher, the catcher, the basemen and the shortstop play
in the infield. The fielders play in the “outfield” or the area around the infield. The
pitcher throws a ball to a “batter” on the opposing team, who tries to hit this ball
with a “ bat” and run around the bases. He gets a “hit” unless:
- The ball is caught before it hits the ground
- He is “tagged” with the ball when he is not on a base
- The ball is thrown and caught at first base, and in some circumstances at
other bases, before he gets there.
The batter is allowed three” strikes” and then he “strike” out. A strike is any ball
which crosses the plate between the top of the batter’s shoulders and his knees and
is not hit by the batter. A ball is any pitched ball which is outside this strike zone
and is not swung at by the batter. The batter is allowed to “walk” to first base if the
pitcher throws four to more balls. Players make an “error” if they make a mistake
on a play that should have resulted in and out.
Each team bats until it makes three outs. An “inning” has been played when both
teams have made three outs. A game is nine innings unless the score is “tied” at the
end of nine innings. Then the game is played extra innings until one team has more
“runs” at the end of the extra innings. A run is scored when a player runs around all
the bases and touches the last or “home” plate or base. The team with the most
“runs” win.

To get to first base
A player is out if he doesn’t hit the ball hard enough to get to first base and is
tagged out. If he gets to first base, he may score a run. Therefore, this idiom means:

“To advance something, to do well enough to get a good start on something”.
E.g: I wish I could get to first base with my boss.
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She received lots of compliments from her manager for getting to first base with
customers.

To drop the ball
Like many other ball games, in baseball if a player drops the ball, then he makes a
mistake and also gives the chance to his opponent. The figurative meaning of this
idiom, therefore, is: “To blunder, to fail in some ways”.
E.g: I have just dropped the ball to date with the girl next door.
Last month, Jack dropped the ball to have his salary increased.

To take a rain check
A baseball game will be cancelled and left to another time in case it is rained out.
The idiom is often used to express the fact that “ A date or meeting will be changed
or accepted at a later time”.
E.g: Sorry, I can’t go to the movies today, but I’d love to take a rain check.
Let’s take a rain check for that dinner date. We can come next week.

To touch base with someone
The literal meaning of the idiom is “To touch a base in any sport with bases”
But its figurative meaning is “To talk to someone about something”.
E.g: We need to touch base with the firm before we make a final agreement.
This idiom could also be deprived from the military

To pitch (throw) someone a curve/ cure ball

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