Paul Dickson says in his introduction to The New Dickson Baseball Dictionary, "The influence of baseball on American English at large is stunning and strong." No other sport has contributed so richly to American English as baseball. Slang terms have evolved a usage and meaning independent of baseball and are often used by those with little knowledge of the game. Many of these terms are deeply entrenched in the American psyche.
The following are common American slang terms, each of which derived from baseball jargon or baseball slang:
- the breaks -- luck and good fortune
- bush or bush league -- amateurish, unprofessional, or inferior
- can of corn -- an easy accomplishment
- charley horse -- a muscle cramp in the lower leg
- curveball -- a surprise
- drop the ball -- to fail in one's responsibilities
- foot in the bucket -- to act timidly
- get to first base, second base, third base, hit it out of the park -- various degrees of sexual conquest
- "going, going, gone" -- dramatic description of anything departed
- hit and run -- anything that strikes quickly and then abruptly departs
- "It ain't over 'till it's over"
- jim-dandy -- admirable or superior
- left field -- unusual, unexpected, or irrational
- Lou Gehrig's disease -- amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS)
- muff -- to screw up [transitive]
- "Nice guys finish last"
- offbase -- out of line, working on faulty assumptions
- out in left field -- odd, out of it, space-case
- out of left field -- an argument or claim that appears difficult to imagine without prior knowledge
- pinch hitter -- substitute
- rain check -- in the event of cancellation, an invitation that may be renewed at a later date
- rhubarb -- a noisy or heated argument
- "Say it ain't so, Joe!" -- an expression of disbelief
- screwball -- eccentric, zany, or crazy
- southpaw -- a left-handed person
- step up to the plate -- to rise to an occasion in life
- strike out -- to fail completely
- swings both ways or switch-hitter -- bisexual
- walk -- an acquittal given to a defendant
- whole new ball game -- a new start
