Ducks on the pond, frozen rope, tumblebug, and high cheese are baseball slang. Ducks on the pond means runners on base, frozen rope is a line drive, a tumblebug is a fielder who makes a catch and adds theatrical flair, and high cheese is a fastball high in the strike zone. The definitive reference book on baseball slang is The Dickson Baseball Dictionary. This is part of a complete episode.
Transcript of “Baseball Lingo”
You’re listening to A Way with Words, the show about language and how we use it.
I’m Grant Barrett.
And I’m Martha Barnette.
And I have a little collection of slang terms here from a certain field, and I’m wondering if you can guess what they are.
Okay.
Put me on the spot, top of the show.
Sure.
Yep.
There are four of them, okay?
Here’s the list.
Ducks on the pond, frozen rope, high cheese, and tumble bug.
Oh, some of these are clicking for me.
Are they?
Frozen rope is baseball.
It is!
It’s a strong hit that seems to be going straight out.
Yes, like a line drive.
Very good.
And ducks on the pond is batters on base.
Base runners, yeah.
Base runners, yeah.
They’re kind of bobbing on the bases like ducks.
What’s the third one?
The third one is high cheese.
So what’s high cheese?
High cheese is a fastball in the strike zone.
Cheese is a very positive thing in this case.
So it’s like perfect strike.
Yes.
Nobody’s arguing against that strike.
Right.
Kind of a frozen rope in the strike zone, I guess.
And what’s the other one?
Tumblebug.
I don’t know.
Is that when a fielder does a little tumble when they try to make a catch?
Yes, they’re kind of showing off.
They’re doing little circus moves.
Tumblebug.
They make it look harder than it is.
Yes.
Yes.
I just thought we could use a little baseball, go Padres and all that.
Frozen rope.
I’ve heard that one.
That one’s in current use for sure.
Some of these terms may go back a ways, though, right?
Oh, definitely.
Decades or even a century behind them?
Yeah, at least to the early 20th century.
But I love the idea.
It makes so much sense, frozen rope, right?
Oh, yeah.
You can just see it.
Yeah.
Going right past you.
Like a perfect one.
Like a straight shot.
You’re going to write into the scoreboard.
Exactly.
Almost no arc on it.
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Not just slang, but word origins, arguments you had, old expressions from your family, great books, and good writing.
