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Webster’s 1913 (as in, the 1913 edition of the dictionary) relates this sense as “grappling with”, as in wrestling, and provides an example from a Dublin Univer
by hotnfresh 3y ago
Webster’s 1913 (as in, the 1913 edition of the dictionary) relates this sense as “grappling with”, as in wrestling, and provides an example from a Dublin University publication to illustrate this exact idiomatic usage we’re discussing.
I’d say it’s not derived from American football.
- freedomben 3y agothank you for sharing that (truly that is interesting data), but how do you know that GP was using the Webster's 1913 definition?
- joshuamorton 3y agoBecause "tackling a problem" is about the approach. That's how the phrase is commonly understood. The Webster's reference is just backup. Dictionary.com provides "Make determined efforts to deal with (a problem or difficult task)." As the first verb form, before the football/rugby definition. Further, the hn guidelines suggest that even if there was more ambiguity, we should presume the strongest interpretation.
- hotnfresh 3y agoI cited an old source to make it clearer that this is not a new sense, and that its entry into English probably had nothing to do with American Football, which existed in 1913 but was still far from being the sport of the US. I’d have cited the OED instead, if I had access. I bet it’s got examples of this usage dating back to 1500 or something. It’s simply a sense of the word, now, hardly even figurative at all (as “grapple” barely is, in some similar senses, now)