Sports Vocabulary and Idioms – Some Observations

about the Specificity of English-Polish

and Polish-English Translation

Michał Mazurkiewicz
Jan Kochanowski University in Kielce, Poland
e-mail: michalmazurkiewicz@op.pl

ABSTRACT

In the following paper the author analyses the language of sport – one can call it
a linguistic interpretation of sport supplemented with cultural analysis. According to
Wojciech Lipoński, “Language is one of the most important components of the dis-
tinctiveness and cultural identity of sport [..] Sport generates numerous professional
and trade jargons, e.g. coaching jargon, terminologies of training methodology, the
language of sport sciences, sport medicine and, finally athletes’ and sport fans’ slang’’
(2009: 19).
Undoubtedly, sport has impacted culture in many ways, which also concerns the lan-
guage. The expansion of British sports in European culture in the nineteenth century
resulted in many English sports terms entering European languages.
The aim of this paper is to present the specificity of English-Polish and Polish-English
translation of sports vocabulary and idioms and show that the language of sport should
always be studied as firmly situated in cultural contexts. The diffusion of sports words
and sayings in everyday use outside sport depends on the popularity of a given sport.
Although not all sports fans adore football, almost everybody acknowledges the con-
stant inspiration which football provides. This sports discipline – with its colourful
rituals, mythology, heroes, unifying power, a great ability for building identity, as
well as language – attracts millions of ardent supporters and is a frequent subject of
scientific research. Therefore, unsurprisingly, football occupies an important place in
this analysis; however, other sports are also present here. This research required close
observation of numerous football matches and match reports from Great Britain, the
United States and Poland, examination of dictionaries, sports articles in newspapers
and in the Internet, as well as interviews with the fans.

Key words: sport, language, culture, idioms, translation, football, matches

140 Michał Mazurkiewicz

1. Introduction

In this article I would like to concentrate on some interesting aspects of Eng-

lish-Polish and Polish-English translation in the world of sport. The main aim
is to show the specificity of this process, which is conditioned by cultural con-
texts, and to make translators aware of miscellaneous traps which may appear.
The fascinating art of translation has got a highly complex nature. The transla-
tor is not just a conveyor of information, he usually plays – or should play – the
role of a bridge for carrying values between cultures. In other words, the pro-
cess of translation is not only the process of inter-language change, but also,
and not to a lesser degree, cultural adaptation (Burkchanow, Pikor-Niedziałek
2006: 121). A translation of a given text takes place at a specific time, in a spe-
cific spatial and cultural context (Dąmbska-Prokop 2005: 9) 1. Therefore, his
or her work cannot be a passive, purely mechanical process. The translation
exposes this person’s miscellaneous roles: an expert on another author, epoch,
interpreter, writer, and middleman, transforming what was written (or said) in
a creative way. It is quite risky as any serious mistranslation can be a setback
in human relations.
Ethnolinguistics, sometimes called cultural linguistics, studies the relationships
between language and culture and the way a variety of ethnic groups perceive
the world. Since sport produces its own language, or rather languages, based
on various ethnic traditions, we can speak of an ethnolinguistics of sport. Pol-
ish sports historian and ethnologist Wojciech Lipoński describes it as:

… a branch of science aimed at systematic research of interrelations between lan-

guage as a product of sport and cultural patterns of behavior of sport participants
(individual and collective), as well as of the influence of language of sport on
general language and, indirectly, on universal culture. (2009: 22)

2. The nature of sport

Sport is an extremely vast phenomenon which pervades the lives of almost all
people on our planet. Although the term sports can be defined as “any activity
or experience that give enjoyment or recreation’’ and is also “referred to as
pastimes or diversions’’ (DeVito 2001: xi), it would be a simplification to call

1 
For more on the circumstances in the process of translation see Dąmbska-Prokop 2005.
Sports Vocabulary and Idioms 141

it some kind of ordinary entertainment, as it inflames great passions, excites

and thrills people, and, in many cases, unifies them in spite of various class
barriers and lets them experience something special. Sport is a fascinating
field of study for humanities widely understood. Having been for a long time
a neglected science, it is now the subject of extensive research carried out by
historians, sociologists, culture studies scientists, and also linguists. Sport and
its immemorial values have been reflected in miscellaneous realms of culture
– art, film, theatre, and also language. Sport is thus cultural heritage which not
only has its centuries of long history, but which is also dependent on various
cultural trends (Mylik 2012: 26).
Sport is also a very important factor in the process of the making of nations and
communities. It builds collective identities and enhances the sense of national
or local patriotism. As can be observed, mostly in the case of football, stadi-
ums play the role of quasi-temples where a significant secular ritual, full of
different meanings and symbols is carried out, where – as Harry Edwards puts
it – “millions congregate to bear witness to the manifestation of their faith’’
(1973: 262). This ritual drama has a magnetic power to draw huge crowds of
spectators. The participants – the fans – constitute groups which create excit-
ing spectacles and are a frequent subjects of sociological analysis. Interesting
as it is, it falls outside the scope of this paper.
According to Scottish social scientist and sports sociologist Grant Jarvie:

It is impossible to fully understand contemporary society and culture without

acknowledging the place of sport. We inhabit a world in which sport is an inter-
national phenomenon. It is important for politicians and world leaders to be as-
sociated with sports personalities; it contributes to the economy; some of the most
visible international spectacles are associated with sporting events; it is part of
the social and cultural fabric of different localities, regions and nations; its trans-
formative potential remains evident in some of the poorest areas of the world; it
is important to the television and film industry, and the tourist industry; and it is
regularly associated with social problems and issues such as crime, health, vio-
lence, social inequality, labour migration, economic and social regeneration, and
poverty (2012: 2).

Howard Cosell, a well-known American sports broadcaster, puts it in the fol-

lowing – laconic but blunt – way: “Sport is human life in microcosm” (DeVito
2001: 243), and indeed, it seems that we can find there every aspect of human
life. We should, however, remember that “the kinds of meanings that are at-
tached to sport vary enormously according to age, class, or simply by virtue
of being male or female’’ (Holt 1992: 8). Sport creates a very colourful and
attractive world worth exploring.
142 Michał Mazurkiewicz

3. The language of sport – a component of cultural

identity

As for the relation between sport and cultural identity, according to Wojciech
Lipoński,

Language is one of the most important components of the distinctiveness and cul-
tural identity of sport […] Sport generates numerous professional and trade jar-
gons, e.g. coaching jargon, terminologies of training methodology, the language
of sport sciences, sport medicine and, finally athletes’ and sport fans’ slang. Each
such variety is always to some extent correlated with national language and fea-
tures distinct phonetic, stylistic and morphological characteristics (2009: 19).

Sports have been a popular form of recreation and entertainment since the
Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans ruled the world (DeVito 2001: xi). It is no
wonder the language of sport has existed since antiquity. Since Greece is con-
sidered to be the motherland of sports terminology, let us analyse this briefly.
Fascinated with agon 2, Greeks invented a great number of words which can
easily be traced in almost all European languages. These are for example:
athletikos, olympiake, agones, gymnastike, stadion, discos, and many others.
There are almost two thousand words and expressions of this type (of Greek
origin) which can be found in other European languages.
As far as Poland is concerned, Old Polish sports terms can be divided into
those originating in the general Polish lexicon (“walka’’ – Eng. “fight’’,
“zwycięstwo’’ – Eng. “win’’, “kres’’ – Eng. “finish’’, etc.) and the ones coined
for the purpose of describing the character of a game or competition, including
names of Old Polish sports, like czoromaj or rochwist 3. As regards the source
languages of Old Polish sports terms, the division is into native Polish words
(“zapasy’’ – Eng. “wrestling’’, “przypaść do kresu’’ – Eng. “fall to the finish
line’’, “równać skronie’’ – Eng. “run neck to neck’’), and foreign borrow-
ings (partya/partyja – from Latin partia). For example, the Polish expression
“partia szachów’’ means a long round of chess and is translated into English
as “a game of chess’’. It is also used with some other sports, like checkers,
bowling or golf (Lipoński 2009: 26-28).

2 
This is the traditional name of a contest in ancient Greece, such as in athletics or music,
in which prizes were awarded. It can be also translated as conflict, combat.
3 
Surprisingly, there existed numerous Old Polish sports, the majority of which, however,
did not survive to modern times. To read more about the traditional, often forgotten sports,
and also attempts at resurrecting some of them, see Lipoński 2004.
Sports Vocabulary and Idioms 143

As for British culture, sport is also its constituent part. Because many con-
temporary sports have been created in Great Britain, a great deal of sports
vocabulary has been a “British invention’’, which is discussed further in the
present article.

4. British cultural imperialism on the example of sport

Sport undoubtedly occupies a central place in British culture. Like many as-
pects of the country’s life, it has been uniquely shaped by history and tradi-
tion. Sport probably plays a  more important part in people’s lives in Great
Britain than it does in most other countries. The British are simply great lovers
of sport. For a very large number of them, it is the main form of entertain-
ment, millions practise some kind of sport and millions are regular spectators.
The famous writer Anthony Trollope listed the sports “essentially dear to the
English nature’’: hunting, shooting, rowing and horse racing. There are many
more sports which enjoy enormous popularity in Great Britain, many of which
are claimed to have originated in that country.
The British pride themselves on having invented numerous sports, such as:
football, golf, tennis, badminton, cricket, rugby, squash, billiards, snooker,
among others (Diniejko 1999: 116). Yet there are some controversies as far
as some of these sports are concerned. For example, ball games using the feet
are known to have existed in a number of ancient civilizations (like those in
Central America), but also later in different European countries (like calcio in
Italy), long before the game was “officially’’ born and the rules were written
down in 1863 in England. Football as it is played today is directly descend-
ed from these rules. To give one more example, tennis was introduced from
France in the sixteenth century, where it had been probably played from the
twelfth century. However, the modern game of tennis originated in England,
in the year 1872. Also golf, though claimed to have been born in Scotland in
the fifteenth century, was in fact another version of similar sports played in the
Roman Empire or ancient China. In spite of the ongoing debates, no one can
deny the outstanding contribution of Great Britain to the world’s sport.
The Industrial Revolution influenced and provided the basis for British Impe-
rialism in the middle of the eighteenth century. Britain dominated in the race
of colonization in the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Its empire com-
prised about one quarter of the world’s land area and its population and in-
cluded territories on every continent. Sport was also a source of British impe-
144 Michał Mazurkiewicz

rial dynamism. Holt (1992: 203) emphasizes the fact that sport played a major
role in the transmission of imperial and national ideas from the late nineteenth
century onwards. To give one example, cricket was played in England as far
back as the Tudor period and took root abroad as the British Empire grew. It
was always seen by foreigners as a uniquely English and imperial sport quite
beyond ordinary understanding.
The result is that sports (that is most mass forms of games and physical edu-
cation) which have predominated throughout most European countries since
the middle of the nineteenth century are those whose origins are found over-
whelmingly in Britain. Perhaps that is why sports historian Allen Guttmann
could fairly conclude “with a bit of exaggeration, that the language of modern
sports is English’’ 4. In other words, generally the practice of Anglo-inspired
sports is accompanied by some variation of the original Anglo vocabulary as-
sociated with those sports.
Joseph Arbena, historian of sport in Latin America, notices certain dangers of
this foreign influence:

On one level this process may seem innocent enough, but to the extent that lan-
guage is an integral part of a culture, a major expression and determinant of the
culture’s traditions and evolution, such a foreign intrusion can be viewed as both
an expression of cultural imperialism and a threat to the recipient culture’s own
vitality and ability to survive. (1995)

Linguistic purists have always called this phenomenon corruption of language

and spared no pains to fight the foreign influence. In many cases, however, the
struggle turned out to be in vain (as in the case of sports vocabulary).
We touch here the phenomenon of borrowing, so let us analyse briefly this
interesting process. When one language takes lexemes from another, the new
items are usually called loanwords or borrowings, though neither term is re-
ally appropriate as the receiving language does not give them back (Crystal
1995: 126). Linguist George Yule defines the process as “taking over of words
from other languages’’ (1985: 52). Borrowing is, however, not only a trivial
mechanical linguistic process of absorbing words or phrases. It is like taking
a piece of one cultural reality and placing it in completely different circum-
stances. In many cases, it is a fascinating cultural phenomenon.

4 
Quoted after Arbena 1995. Quotation from Guttmann’s text: ‘Our Former Colonial
Masters’: The Diffusion of Sports and the Question of Cultural Imperialism’’ Stadion 14: 1
1988, p. 49.
Sports Vocabulary and Idioms 145

According to the aforementioned linguist David Crystal, English, perhaps

more than any other language, is an insatiable borrower. While many speak-
ers of various languages take pains to exclude foreign words from their lexi-
cons, English seems to have welcomed them (Crystal 1995: 126). Some of the
loanwords adopted by the English language include: alcohol (from Arabic),
boss (from Dutch), croissant (from French), lilac (from Persian), piano (from
Italian), pretzel (from German), robot (from Czech), tycoon (from Japanese),
yogurt (from Turkish) or zebra (from Bantu) (Yule 1985: 52).
The process of borrowing goes in the opposite direction as well. Many lan-
guages borrow terms from English, as can be observed in the Japanese use of
suupaamaaketto (“supermarket’’) and rajio (“radio’’). Since sport is a social
phenomenon which is inherently linked to the process of communication real-
ized in society through language, it is also visible as far as sports vocabulary is
concerned. English – as it has been already said – is the most common source
of sports words in numerous languages. To be more precise, these are most-
ly internationalisms which originated in the English language. They include
words like: football, foul, fair play, start, finish and many others, which have
been incorporated into the syntactic and morphological structures of other
languages (Kowalikowa 2009: 65) 5.
Coming back to the question of British imperialism (also linguistic), the ex-
pansion of British sports terminology became internationalized in the nine-
teenth century, most of which was based on the English language. The first
wave of the “invasion’’ hit Europe in the first half of the nineteenth century,
following European fascination with horse races and customary Anglomania.
Then, tennis, football and boxing became very fashionable forms of enter-
tainment, flooding European languages with a lot of new vocabulary. As for
Poland, many local purists were strongly opposed to this new phenomenon
but did not always manage to find good equivalents. In one Polish newspaper
from the nineteenth century we can read a characteristic observation:

No one is able to understand or even read these crazy English words. If all these
Anglomaniacs would kindly translate this vocabulary into Polish it would have
made some sense. Meanwhile we do not understand why they wear upon their
hats inscriptions in English when all that can be named in Polish. (Lipoński
2009: 28) 6.

5 
What is interesting, internationalisms also include terms related to specific sports which
are not translated into other languages, like for example judo techniques, in which case the
original Japanese terms are retained (Kowalikowa 2009: 65).
6 
Gazeta Coodzienna (Eng. Daily Gazette), 1859. Quoted after Lipoński 2009.
146 Michał Mazurkiewicz

In present-day Polish sports terminology there are a few thousand English

borrowings, which is not only a linguistic process, but a complex cultural
phenomenon. Some of the words have been incorporated directly, like golf.
Sometimes, polonization included modification in the phonology or spell-
ing of English words (ofsajd) or invention of more or less equivalent forms
(arbiter).

5. The specificity of English-Polish and Polish-English

sports translation

Most sports disciplines have had a great influence on broadly understood cul-
tures of particular nations. This also concerns the impact on languages. Let us
start with a sport extremely popular in the United States (also in Japan) – but
almost unknown to Polish sports fans – which may present a lot of complica-
tions in the process of translation.
Baseball has entered culture in many ways. It is the subject of popular songs
like Take Me Out to the Ball Game, novels such as Shoeless Joe, and films like
The Pride of the Yankees, The Babe or Field of Dreams 7. It has its own colour-
ful language and some baseball expressions are widely used. For example:
to get to first base means to achieve the first stage in a physical relationship,
which is usually a kiss, to strike out – to fail, to throw somebody a curve (Pol.
“rzucić podkręconą piłkę’’) – to trick somebody, to take a rain check – to de-
lay an event (as baseball matches are sometimes lengthened due to weather
conditions and can be very long), to touch base with somebody – to make con-
tact with somebody, it ain’t over till it’s over – it’s not the end yet (Crowther
2004: 41).
As it has been mentioned, this American sport is not very popular in Poland 8,
so it is the translator’s task to try to avoid any possible misunderstanding. For
example, Polish people might not be aware of the fact that there are four bases
in baseball; therefore, providing them with some explanation would certainly
be a good idea.

7 
For more on baseball’s influence on American culture see Mazurkiewicz 2011.
8 
It is a niche sport, played in a small number of clubs. The “capital’’ of Polish baseball is
Kutno, situated in the Łódź Voivodeship. What is worth noting, is that the Polish game of
palant (nowadays, unfortunately, almost completely forgotten) is said to have contributed
to the birth of baseball in the United States.
Sports Vocabulary and Idioms 147

Regarding idioms coming from different sports, some of them may be trans-
lated into Polish directly. This kind of translation into Polish takes place in the
case of the following expressions: to catch someone off guard (from boxing),
the ball is in your court (from tennis), poker face (from poker), to keep one’s
head above water (from swimming), to play for time (from cricket), just to
give a few examples. Some others require certain – minor or major – modi-
fications when translating. Such indirect translation takes place in the case
of expressions like: to jump the gun (from racing) – to act prematurely, it’s
not cricket (from cricket) – it’s not fair, to be on someone’s tail – to be in hot
pursuit of someone (from fox hunting), banana kick (from football) – one that
makes the ball curve, diving header (from football) – strike the ball diving
near the ground 9.
As concerns Polish-English translation, there are similar situations. The Pol-
ish word “szczupak’’ means “pike’’ (a kind of fish). Sports usage of this word,
however, is “a whole new ball game’’. In football jargon it means a type of
header known as the aforementioned “diving header’’, meaning simply diving
into the ball and hitting it with the head. It is regarded as one of the greatest
plays in football.
Traditionally, “sport has always been a male preserve with its own language,
its initiation rites, and models of true masculinity, its clubbable, jokey cosi-
ness’’ (Holt 1992: 8).
Stadiums have always been regarded a kind of battlefield, where two teams
fight tooth and nail and the supporters of the opposite teams in many cases
engage in a struggle to psychically or physically beat or destroy each other.
There is combat, anger and determination. When we look at the language of
sports, we notice that it reflects not just competitiveness, but some dose of
brutality as well.
Let us recall here Jadwiga Kowalikowa’s words:

Characteristically, the language of sport includes a great number of vocabulary

items related to military and warfare, e.g. attack, offensive, defensive, shooting,
surrender, etc., as well as specific phrases and expressions which are then often
transferred into general lexicon, e.g. below the belt, breasting the tape, hitting for
six or jumping the gun. (2009: 65)

9 
Over two thousand colourful idiomatic and metaphorical expressions from sport and
recreation which have worked their way into all levels of usage in the English language
can be found in Palmatier and Ray’s Dictionary of Sports Idioms – an excellent book for
sports fans and word lovers.
148 Michał Mazurkiewicz

American President Jimmy Carter 10 called sport a “moral equivalent to war’’

(Lipoński 2009: 31) 11. And indeed, one can say that in times of peace, sport
substitutes for armed conflicts and “international matches scores build or
reinforce perceptions of the power relations between states’’ (Tuñón, Brey
2012: 9).
A Polish football expression which belongs to this “military’’ category is “the
defence of Częstochowa’’. This phrase is used in the case of a very desperate
defence, when almost the whole team tries to prevent the opponent from scor-
ing a goal. Częstochowa houses the most famous Polish Catholic shrine to the
Virgin Mary. The Monastery was successfully defended during the Swedish
invasion of Poland in 1655 12. It would be a good idea for a translator to find
some similar English or American battle and use it in this context, but very
carefully, taking care of the details. It seems, however, almost impossible, so
using explanatory footnotes is perhaps the only solution.
Another interesting military expression in the world of Polish sport is “the
charge of the uhlans’’. Uhlans were Polish light cavalry armed with lances, sa-
bres and pistols. The first uhlan regiments were created at the beginning of the
eighteenth century. The expression “the charge of the uhlans’’ means a speedy,
courageous and desperate attack, It should be recalled that Polish uhlans’ nu-
merous glorious charges went down in history. To give just one example, let
us mention the famous Battle of Somosierra in 1808 13. In football, it means
something similar – a sudden attack on the opponents’ goal, a feat of bravery
and determination despite the superior strength of the enemy.
“Polish hussars’’ would be another interesting example worth presenting.
Hussars were the elite of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth cavalry. This

10 
James Earl Carter was the 39th US President (years in Office 1977-1981), known for his
strong moral principles and predilection for several sports, for example basketball, base-
ball and tennis. He was not an exception in this aspect – many American Presidents have
been very fond of sports (for example, Barack Obama adores basketball).
11 
Washburn, W.E. ‘The Moral Equivalent to Football’ The New Republic July 23 1977:
33-36. Quoted after Lipoński 2009.
12 
It is worth drawing attention here to the fact that the Siege of Częstochowa took
place during the Second Northern War/The Deluge – The Swedish invasion of the Polish
Lithuanian Commonwealth. The siege lasted one month and turned out to be ineffective.
A small group of monks, supported by local volunteers manage to fight off the numeri-
cally superior Germans hired by Sweden and save the sacred icon – The Black Madonna
of Częstochowa. This event is thought to be the turning point of the war.
13 
Napoleon was so impressed that he said after the battle that one Polish cavalryman was
worth ten French soldiers.
Sports Vocabulary and Idioms 149

aforementioned expression means rather the same as the previous one. Hear-
ing it, a Polish sports viewer will immediately have a vision of winged 14 raid-
ers rushing on horseback towards the enemy. He or she will also feel excite-
ment and pride. This is definitely not a neutral expression.
Sometimes, translators deal in their work with a certain dose of humour which
has to be somehow reflected in another language. The more peculiar the ex-
pression to be translated, the more time consuming the task may be. Sport is
no exception in this aspect – humour appears in sports terminology as well.
Let us concentrate on two expressions which I have found in the world of foot-
ball. The first one presented by Wojciech Lipoński is a very interesting and
funny example: “Sędzia, kanarki doić!’’, which was then translated by him
directly: “Hey, ref! Go, milk the canaries!’’ The expression was noted down in
an article on football written by Polish poet Konstanty Ildefons Gałczyński 15,
who – watching a football match – unexpectedly heard a singular expression
uttered by an irritated fan towards the referee.
It seems impossible to find an explanation of the origin of the phrase. Certain
idioms are not widespread, they have a local character, are frequently used
only in a certain district, neighbourhood or in narrow circles of people. There
are many such surreal and, as it seems, untranslatable expressions in sports
slang.
Another example also comes from the world of ornithology, but even ornithol-
ogists would probably have difficulty in explaining it. This is a funny old Pol-
ish idiom: “szpakami karmiony’’. It has been recalled by Polish sports jour-
nalist of the sports newspaper Przegląd Sportowy Antoni Bugajski (2013: 14)
and can be directly translated into English as “fed on starlings’’. The meaning
of this idiom is “clever, resourceful’’, as small as this bird is – with a short
tail, pointed wings, and dark, often iridescent black plumage – it is a highly
intelligent animal, considered the smartest of the birds. The expression ap-
pears in Trilogy, the famous literary work of great Polish novelist Henryk

14 
The huge wings, attached to the back, were wooden frames carrying eagle, ostrich,
swan or goose feathers. Hussars probably wore them to make a  loud, clattering noise
which was supposed to make it seem like the cavalry was much larger than in reality and
also frighten the enemy’s horses.
15 
Gałczyński was known for “paradramatic’’ absurd humorous sketches of the Green
Goose Theatre. What is interesting in the context of this article, Gałczyński also produced
translations of A Midsummer Night’s Dream by William Shakespeare and Ode to Joy by
Friedrich Schiller. The football article mentioned above – Dojenie kanarków (Eng. Milk-
ing the Canaries) Kraków 2:1 can be found in Lipoński’s book Zapomniani piewcy sportu
(Eng. Forgotten Poets of Sport).Warszawa: Sport i Turystyka, 1970.
150 Michał Mazurkiewicz

Sienkiewicz 16, in which hetman Czarniecki, using it, compliments Zagłoba 17

on his great resourcefulness. In the case of sport, however, as has been demon-
strated by Bugajski, it means not necessarily “intelligent’’, but rather “shrewd,
crafty’’, especially when it comes to the question of obtaining a penalty kick
under false pretences, in a dishonest way, wangle it out of the referee. It seems
that among English bird idioms there are no starling idioms (at least dictionar-
ies do not give any such examples) The translation process in this case should,
therefore, include using the direct translation with some explanation in foot-
notes or – which less feasible – trying to find some other English idiom. The
problem is that the expression found would probably not contain any bird,
which could diminish the original effect and deprive it of any humour.

6. Conclusions

A good translator should definitely feel the “pulsations’’ of another culture.

Translation is an autonomous artistic activity whose most important element
is communication, conveying information. However, social and cultural con-
text cannot be neglected in this fascinating but difficult process. The text has
got to arouse the same feelings in the reader as it does in the case of the
original one. Being a translator in the field of sports should mean “feeling’’
the language of athletes, fans, and sports media. As it has been demonstrated,
translating certain expressions requires not only extensive knowledge of the
world of sports, but also of history and culture of the peoples of both languag-
es. Frequently, direct translation is completely impossible. There is a great
number of peculiar sports expressions typical only of a particular language
and extremely hard to translate. It is up to the translator, his or her intuition,
agility, ingenuity, as well as conscientiousness to cope with a given linguistic
problem. This is hardly possible for a translator dealing only with the so-
called ordinary, general texts, one having no experience in a specific linguistic

16 
Sienkiewicz was a Polish Nobel Prize-winning novelist, best remembered for his highly
acclaimed historical novels, most specifically Trilogy, consisting of With Fire and Sword,
The Deluge and Sir Michael, set in the seventeenth-century Polish-Lithuanian Common-
wealth, as well as Quo Vadis, set in Nero’s Rome.
17 
Zagłoba is one of the most popular and significant characters of Henryk Sienkiewicz.
He is a jovial and cunning hero, always looking for adventures. Zagłoba is often compared
to the Shakespearian character of Falstaff.
Sports Vocabulary and Idioms 151

area. Watching matches, reading innumerable sports books, magazines and

newspapers seems absolutely indispensable. Only by immersing oneself in the
sphere one deals with and putting a lot of effort in the translating process can
one acquire the knowledge necessary for successful translation. This requires
maintaining a creative tension at all times. Also, it is probably true that “no
one should write about sport without having at least tried to play something
themselves’’ (Holt 1992: viii). Otherwise, that would be a bit of an artificial
process, devoid of any feeling.

Appendix

A sample of English-Polish football translation

Football is definitely the number-one sport in the world. Let us look at this selection of
fragments of British match reports with possible translations into Polish. This might
be treated as a kind of useful tip for translators translating from English into Polish.
Here is the list 18:

Ball
he didn’t quite connect with the ball – nie przyjął dobrze piłki
greet the ball – przyjąć piłkę
the loose ball – bezpańska piłka
stepped up – podszedł do piłki

Box/penalty area, penalty kick

the ball was swept into the box – piłka została wstrzelona w pole karne
brought down inside the box – ścięty w polu karnym
muscled his way into the box – wpadł jak taran w pole karne
broke into the box and was hauled down – wdarł się w  pole karne i  został ścięty/
powalony
it looked like a stonewall penalty – wyglądało na pewny rzut karny
referee pointed straight to the spot – sędzia wskazał na wapno

Chance/opportunity
create chances – stwarzać sytuacje
squander a glorious chance – zmarnować znakomitą sytuację
clear-cut goalscoring opportunity – stuprocentowa szansa
clear-cut chance in front of goal – stuprocentowa sytuacja podbramkowa

18 
In all cases translation mine – Michał Mazurkiewicz.
152 Michał Mazurkiewicz

Clear/clearance
scamper clear – uciec na czystą pozycję
found himself clear – znalazł się na czystej pozycji
clear the danger – wyjaśnić niebezpieczeństwo
make the clearance – wyjaśnić sytuację

Fans
fans in good voice – głośni kibice
a sigh of relief passed around the home fans – miejscowi kibice wydali westchnienie
ulgi

Lead
give the lead – dać prowadzenie
take the lead – objąć prowadzenie

Shot/shooting
rifle a shot – oddać strzał
rifle a left-foot volley – strzelił lewą nogą z woleja
slam it home – strzelić gola
headed the ball wide – strzelił głową obok bramki
a long-range effort comfortably taken by Boruc – strzał z dalszej odległości z łatwością
obroniony przez Boruca
stopped his header – obronił jego strzał głową
sent the keeper the wrong way – zmylił bramkarza
soar over the bar – poszybować nad poprzeczką

Others/miscellaneous
they stepped up a gear – podkręcili tempo
in the dying seconds of injury time – w końcowych minutach dogrywki
seized on some slack play by… – przechwycił słabe podanie
telegraph your pass – zasygnalizować podanie
leveller – wyrównanie
two goals down – dwa gole do tyłu (w plecy)
they were rarely tested at the back – rzadko stwarzano zagrożenie pod ich bramką
period of pressure from the home side – okres przewagi gospodarzy
unmarked – nieobstawiony
off balance – straciwszy równowagę
slowly began to work their way back into the match – powoli zaczęli wracać do gry
beat the offside trap – oszukał pułapkę ofsajdową
Celtic sat back – Celtic cofnął się
on the follow-up – w odpowiedzi
safe from the drop – nie grozi im spadek
they grabbed a dramatic winner – uzyskali zwycięstwo w dramatycznych okolicznoś­
ciach
Sports Vocabulary and Idioms 153

One could say that this modest list is just the tip of the iceberg. The world of sport pos-
es a serious challenge to the translator, requiring competence and hard work, but can
also be a source of real satisfaction. The author hopes that the index presented above
will turn out to be useful for many translators and will be an incentive to explore the
subject. For people translating from English into languages other than Polish, it might
also provide some kind of inspiration for further fruitful work. It would be undoubt-
edly both a challenging and fascinating task to look for different ways of translating
sports expressions into other languages.