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Previous Thread Next Thread Print Thread banner year #148975 10/17/2005 12:00 AM Joined: Mar 2001 Posts: 4,189 Rio Grande, Cape May County, N... WhitmanO'Neill Carpal Tunnel WhitmanO'Neill Carpal Tunnel Joined: Mar 2001 Posts: 4,189 Rio Grande, Cape May County, N... A headline on the Chicago White Sox homepage says, "White Sox attempt to make it a banner year." And I was gobsmacked that, as a lifelong and avid baseball fan, it has never occurred to me that that phrase, banner year, may have come from baseball...winning the pennant and thereby hoisting the banner at the stadium. So I went to Word Origins, but there's nothing there. Does anyone know if this is indeed the origin of the phrase, or another site where I can find the etymology? Copy Link to Clipboard Share Post on Facebook Share Post on Twitter Re: banner year #148976 10/17/2005 12:15 PM Joined: Oct 2005 Posts: 5 Ottawa Canada podictionary stranger podictionary stranger Joined: Oct 2005 Posts: 5 Ottawa Canada I took a look in OED and it has the context of "entitled to a banner as a distinction" first showing up in 1840 with "The Whigs...proposed to designate whichever state should give the Harrison ticket the largest majority, as the banner state" "Banner year" is cited there first as 1931 but in connection with a race horse breeder, not baseball. I wouldn't think these are conclusively the earliest uses, but it doesn't look like baseball was the start. podictionary.com the podcast for word lovers Copy Link to Clipboard Share Post on Facebook Share Post on Twitter Re: banner year #148977 10/18/2005 1:50 PM Joined: Mar 2000 Posts: 11,613 Louisville, Kentucky Jackie Carpal Tunnel Jackie Carpal Tunnel Joined: Mar 2000 Posts: 11,613 Louisville, Kentucky Oh, WO'N, don't you have anything on your mind other than baseball?! I hadn't particularly thought about the usage before, but historically, banners have been carried by those who lead the parade, march or whatever, so I would think that having the banner signifies that you're in the lead. Welcome aBoard, Charles! Your site seems really cool. Copy Link to Clipboard Share Post on Facebook Share Post on Twitter Moderated by  Jackie  Hop To General Topics ------  Information and announcements  Q&A about words  Wordplay and fun  Words and languages in schools  Miscellany  Weekly Themes  Looking for (writers, speakers,... (Old) Weekly themes. (have been... ------  Words from medicine  Beheading words  Meta-words  Words from classical mythology  Animal Safari  Words with unusual etymologies  Eponyms or words derived from p...  Loanwords from German  English as a global language Print Thread Switch to Threaded Mode Show Likes Link Copied to Clipboard View Profile Private Message Follow User Forum Posts Like Summary View Profile Private Message Website Follow User Forum Posts Like Summary View Profile Private Message Follow User Forum Posts Like Summary

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