Why is it called the line of “scrimmage” when a “scrimmage” is a practice game, usually between members of the same team?
If a “conversion” is when you get a 1st down on 3rd or 4th down, why is it also a “conversion” to run for 2 extra points after a touchdown?
Doesn’t it seem like the meanings of “touchback” and “safety” are swiched around? You can be scored against by being tackled back behind your own goal line as opposed to a touchdown down at the other end of the field. OTOH, if a kickoff or punt goes past your goal line, you’re “safe” from having the ball spotted at an unfavorable position, instead it’s moved up to the 20.
“Field goal” isn’t that bad, but then again, you get that score by kicking the ball through the air and between the uprights, not on the “field”. It should be called an “air goal” or a “kick goal”.
Main Entry: scrim·mage
Pronunciation: 'skri-mij
Function: noun
Etymology: Middle English scrymmage, alteration of skyrmissh skirmish
Date: 15th century 1 a : a minor battle : SKIRMISH b : a confused fight : SCUFFLE
2 a : the interplay between two football teams that begins with the snap of the ball and continues until the ball is dead b : practice play (as in football or basketball) between two squads
Main Entry: line of scrimmage
Date: circa 1909 : an imaginary line in football that is parallel to the goal lines and tangent to the nose of the ball laid on the ground and marks the position of the ball at the start of each down
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Main Entry: con·ver·sion
Pronunciation: k&n-'v&r-zh&n, -sh&n
Function: noun
Etymology: Middle English, from Middle French, from Latin conversion-, conversio, from convertere
Date: 14th century 1 : the act of converting : the process of being converted – compare GENE CONVERSION
2 : an experience associated with a definite and decisive adoption of religion 3 a : the operation of finding a converse in logic or mathematics b : reduction of a mathematical expression by clearing of fractions 4 : a successful try for point or free throw 5 : something converted from one use to another
Main Entry: touch·back
Pronunciation: 't&ch-"bak
Function: noun
Date: circa 1890 : a situation in football in which the ball is down behind the goal line after a kick or intercepted forward pass after which it is put in play by the team defending the goal on its own 20-yard line – compare **SAFETY**
Main Entry: safe·ty
Pronunciation: 'sAf-tE
Function: noun
Inflected Form(s): pluralsafeties
Etymology: Middle English saufte, from Middle French sauveté, from Old French, from sauve, feminine of sauf safe
Date: 14th century 1 : the condition of being safe from undergoing or causing hurt, injury, or loss 2 : a device (as on a weapon or a machine) designed to prevent inadvertent or hazardous operation 3 a (1) : a situation in football in which a member of the offensive team is tackled behind its own goal line that counts two points for the defensive team – compare **TOUCHBACK** (2) : a member of a defensive backfield in football who occupies the deepest position in order to receive a kick, defend against a forward pass, or stop a ballcarrier b : a billiard shot made with no attempt to score or so as to leave the balls in an unfavorable position for the opponent **c : BASE HIT**
Main Entry: field goal
Function: noun
Date: 1902 1 : a score of three points in football made by drop-kicking or place-kicking the ball over the crossbar from ordinary play 2 : a goal in basketball made while the ball is in play
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As you can see, simply checking out Merriam-Webster OnLine answers your questions nicely…
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In the early days of football, there weren’t any points awarded for safeties. Team would regularly take them if they were in bad field position. They could then kick the ball back to the other team from better field position.
Teams still do this now if the situation warrants it.
However, in 19th century football, teams were supposed to keep track of the number of safeties each team took and use it as a tiebreaker since tie games were pretty common (usually 0-0 ties).
Thanks, Satan, but “because it’s in the dictionary” doesn’t completely answer my questions. I can see scrimmage=skirmish in two slightly different meanings of the word. A “skirmish” is a minor fight and a “skirmish line” is the very front rank of an infantry formation.
When you get a first down, you’re “converting” from the bottom of the 4-down cycle back to the top, but what gets converted when you try running for 2 extra points? The score changes, but it does in other situations as well. You’re swithcing from a kicking formation to a running formation, but that happens at other times as well. The best I can think of is that a “4th down conversion” is a fairly risky play that’s usually not attempted, and the same applies to a 2-point attempt, so perhaps the term stuck to the latter situation thru this association.
I still say “touchback” and “safety” should be switched. (Why do the definitions refernce each other?) You got your touchdowns and your touchbacks, and there’s nothing “safe” about being backed up against your own goal line and losing 2 points. But spotting the ball on your 20 after a kick or interception past the goal line does make you “safe” from having a friggin “safety” scored against you. But BobT’s post does give some inkling of the origin of the term. (I completely forgot about the defensive back called the “safety”. His title makes sense, but what kind of limited vocabulary did those early football guys have, anyway?)
Merriam-Webster is no help with “field goal” either. There’s no way of scoring or moving the ball that has less to do with the field than a field goal. A touchdown should be called a field goal, especially when you run it in. No one touched you, did they? “Touchdown” seems to imply down by contact, although it might apply to that deal where the punters teammates stop the ball from going into the endzone. Perhaps the original rules called for the runner to place the ball on the ground in the endzone rather than leaping into the stands to give it to his mamma.
And last but not least, we all know what sport should be–and is–called “football”, right? Heck “football” should be called “soccer” cuz you rock 'em and sock 'em.
This line of reasoning doesn’t go very far. People also talk about third-down conversions, and that’s not really that risky.
And people do talk about converting extra point kicks, too – also not terribly risky.
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When you accept a touchback, you are saying that you will stay back and not go forward (and if the other team kicks the ball through the end zone, well, they have insisted that you stay back and not go forward).
As for safety? No idea how to explain this. In billiards, the term “safety” makes obvious sense, though.
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I think you’re being terribly literal about all of this. Should hockey be called “puck-and-stick-and-sheet-of-ice”? After all, nobody is going over to the pawn shop and hocking anything during the course of the game. And lacrosse, I would imagine, should be called “run-around-with-little-nets-on-sticks ball.”
In any case, here is a Web site that specializes in etymology. You could submit a request to them:
