It’s another funny old game

The Rugby World Cup has just kicked off in New Zealand and I’m hoping to see many hours of the game. Whilst my hopes are with the English, the All Blacks at home are going to be one tough cookie to crack.

And I’ve been thinking. There are some terms in rugby that must be a littly tricky to translate: try, scrum, ruck, maul, up-and-under, drop-kick and conversion. And the names of some positions (hooker, prop, scrum-half, fly-half) must have interesting names in other languages.

[see more rugby terms at Wikipedia]

Although ruggers has some thorny terms, perhaps it’s that other favourite, cricket, which wins the prize. How do you translate silly mid-on, silly mid-off, silly mid-wicket and silly point? Then there are  gulley, slip, leg break, leg bye, let cutter, leg glance, leg side, leg slip, leg spin, leg theory and leg before wicket? (not to mention the other hundreds of cricketing terms)?

[see even more cricket terms at Wikipedia]

Well, whatever the sport and wherever it’s played, there’s sure to be  a term to descibe it. My hope is that the term is equally daft and as unique as the English term. It is, after all, a funny old game.