The character of Deadpool Marvel Comics and movie fame takes his name from the term dead pool, originally death pool — originally a sum of money put aside for the family of someone who died in a high-risk race such as car racing, then later became a betting pool predicting when certain people would die. The term also denoted a payout to the family of those in high-risk occupations like police officers. The expression was further popularized by the Clint Eastwood film The Dead Pool starring Liam Neeson. This is part of a complete episode.
Transcript of “Dead Pool and Death Pool”
Hello, you have A Way with Words.
Hi, my name is Dale Dozier from Virginia Beach, Virginia.
Dale, welcome to the show. What can we do for you?
I didn’t know about the word Deadpool and the character from the X-Men. So I was just trying to get that straight because I was into the X-Men series, but I never really stayed up on the character Deadpool and how people are using it in and out of the comic culture and in the regular world, in the vernacular, as they say.
And you were wondering about the word Deadpool itself?
Yes, the word Deadpool.
Oh, that’s a really good one. I think there’s some reference in the first of the Deadpool movies to what the meaning of Deadpool is. Do you know what a Deadpool is outside of the movie?
No, I do not.
It’s a Deadpool, or actually earlier it was called a Death Pool, is a sum of money pooled together by participants that’s going to be paid out after a death or deaths. So there are a lot of different forms of it. And the gambling world has turned it now into an art form, but originally there were two basic forms.
In one form, the families of any of the participants in the death pool might get paid some of the money if one of the participants died, such in high-risk car racing. So it would help the families of the deceased. So, for example, here’s how one of the newspapers described it in 1910. It says, contestants in the Vanderbilt automobile races the other day formed a death pool before the races took place, and each contestant contributed $100 to the sum, which was to be divided and given to the family of any married man who was killed in the races. The men knew they were tempting death and that the spectators would not be satisfied unless there was a crimson trail in the wake of the racers.
Very morbid. But the whole idea here is that all of the guys that were racing put in some money so that if they should die, then their family would get a share of that pool. And then in other death pools, everybody puts in money and then the last living participant claims the entire pot. So sometimes it’s in high-risk occupations like people who diffuse mines or police officers or things like that or just groups of old friends.
And then there’s another version, which is where there’s a list of famous people. This is the version it usually takes today, like in Las Vegas, a list of famous people. And you put money down on the day or the method or whatever, when they’re going to die. And then you get a payout if you match that. And again, Las Vegas has perfected this to an art form. And there’s a dozen different kinds of death pools there. And I don’t want to get into them. But generally, that’s how it is.
So this is where the character Deadpool gets the name as far as I understand it. I’m not fully up on the comic book character who first appeared. I believe in 1991. But in the first movie, there is a pool on a chalkboard behind the bar where I think they’re talking about who’s going to die when. In any case, it was originally called Death Pool, but we have to mention the last Dirty Harry movie with Clint Eastwood. These are legendary films. You might remember these, Dale. Did you ever see those?
I saw some of Clint Eastwood’s.
Classic, classic films. So this one, The Deadpool, is about exactly this kind of bedding pool. This came out in 1988. Clint Eastwood stars. It’s actually Liam Neeson’s first big role, believe it or not. The screenplay by Buddy Van Horn, and the whole film centers around this Deadpool that’s being manipulated so that somebody, a serial killer is manipulating somehow, I think, so that they can win. But that formalized the form Deadpool in the common vernacular. But prior to that, it was usually called a death pool or sometimes a death bedding pool.
How about that, Dale?
That’s amazing.
Yeah. Quite awakening and very informative. I really appreciate your diligent research.
Dale, take care of yourself. Call us again sometime.
All right.
Thank you. It’s been a pleasure to be on with you guys. Have a great day.
Yeah, you too. Be well.
Thanks, Dale. Take care.
Bye-bye.
Thank you, Dale.
All right. Bye-bye.
Well, we talk about Latin and ancient Greek and Old English, but we also talk about all kinds of aspects of black culture. Gambling and cleanesthood and death. So if you want to talk with us about any of those things or other things involving language, give us a call, 877-929-9673.
