love=nothing
I have been discussing words associated with my research with poet Tawona Sithole and we were talking of tennis terms and the irony of the word love in tennis.
‘Tennis players never say a player’s score is “zero” or “nothing” when that player hasn’t scored a point in a game. They say “love” instead. No one knows for sure how this word came into use, but it probably happened like this:’Centuries ago, French tennis players drew zeroes on their scoresheets that were oval in shape, and looked like eggs. So, the zero became known as l’oeuf, which means “egg” in French.This French word sounds very much like “love,” so players in England began to call the zero “love,” and that word has been used ever since.’
OPEN SESSION I will be at the Museum in the Park 9 - 13 February , Stratford Park, Stroud GL5 4AF
February 18th, 2010 at 08:59 pm
You could probably incorporate the actual scoring numbers i.e. 15, 30, 40. Apparently, the traditional court was 90 ft in total with 45 ft on each side. When the server scored, he moved forward 15 ft. If he scored again, he would move another 15 ft. If he scored a third time, he could only move 10 ft closer.
And the homophone deuce/juice has interesting possibilities