« Word Origin: Dark Horse | Main | Word Origin: Idiot »

Oct24
Word Origin: ALSO RAN
Again, we find a political term that traces its origins to horse racing. This word, ALSO RAN, probably comes from the practice in racing of naming the first three horses to place in a given race. The horses, jockeys, times elapsed, owners, etc., are all mentioned in the newspapers or accounts of the race. The rest of the field….well, they also ran in the race.

In a political contest, it is customary to rate the most probable to win among the candidates. Those with slim or marginal chances of winning would then become known as also rans, in direct allusion to those horses that failed to make the grade in a race.  In this century, the term has come to describe any person who would not place in any contest, whether this be in athletics, academics, or even in the story of the human race.

sourced by JMJF

related entries


0 Comments/Trackbacks




submit a trackback

TrackBack URL for this entry:

post a comment

Name, Email Address, and URL are not required fields.





Comment Preview

« Word Origin: Dark Horse | Main | Word Origin: Idiot »

Advertise

Related Resources

sponsored ads



subscribe


Prefer Email?
Subscribe below-

Enter your Email:


Powered by FeedBlitz What's this?

Current News

Support This Blog

business social media

Use these fast growing business social media sites to promote your business, feature your products, spotlight your business leaders, create links, and drive traffic back to your company site, all for free!

BIZZlogos - Add your logo - free link to your site
BIZZphotos - Add photos of your products and people
BIZZprofiles - Submit your profile and build your online visibility
BIZZspotlight - Spotlight your business with free links
BIZZvideos - Videos about businesses, products and business people.
BIZZbites - "Digg" for Business - Submit your articles and posts

know more media network

View Network Map

Network Feed List (OPML)

Know More Media Network
Feed


we support unitus

PRWeb

Influencer



SmartTechWriting is a member of the Know More Media network of business related blogs.

Here are some current headlines from some of our business publications:

ProductivityGoal

CallCenterScript

AdHurl

TheBizofKnowledge

LandingTheDeal

CustomersAreAlways

HealthCareVox

BrainBasedBusiness

TheInsurancePolicy

MarketingBlurb