7 expressions you might not know came from horse racing

As we head into the home stretch before this weekend’s 140th Kentucky Derby, sometimes called “the Greatest Two Minutes in Sports,” let’s take a look at some of the everyday expressions that have their origins in the sport of kings. Discover seven commonly used phrases you might not know came from the horse track.

1. Across the Board
In contemporary usage this phrase indicates the inclusion of everyone or everything in a given scenario—such as across the board price cuts or across the board layoffs. At the track, an across the board bet is a wager on the same horse to win, to place and to show—effectively betting all the way across a single line of the board.

2. Also Ran
Commonly used to refer to the losing candidate in an election, an “also ran” is an equestrian-derived moniker for a non-winner. At the track, the results of each race would post the top finishers as well as the rest of the field. Any horse…

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Photo credit | “Turf Classic” by Hydrogen on Flickr

Posted on juin 12, 2014 in English language

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