Baseball is a rich source of slang, and the Dickson Baseball Dictionary by Paul Dickson is a trove of such language. A snow cone, in baseball lingo, is a ball caught so that it’s sticking up out of the fielder’s glove. And which month of the year is called dreamer’s month? It’s March, when loyal fans believe that anything is possible for their team in the coming season. This is part of a complete episode.
Transcript of “The Dickson Baseball Dictionary”
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 it’s time for baseball slang.
What’s a snow cone?
That’s a ball that gets caught on the fingertips of the glove.
Yes.
Did you know that or were you just guessing?
I knew it.
You did, really?
Instead of in the basket, right?
Or in the pocket.
Exactly.
Exactly.
Or it sort of works its way up so that it’s just barely sticking out.
But it still counts as a catch.
Yes, it does.
It does indeed.
Well, let me try this one on you then.
When is Dreamers Month?
Ooh, Dreamers Month.
Is this when the free agents start thinking about moving to a better team?
That’s an excellent guess.
It really is an excellent guess.
Okay.
But let me give you a hint.
The baseball season usually starts in April.
Okay, so Dreamers Month.
Yes.
Everybody’s thinking about, like, I’m going to break the 300 home run mark.
You got it.
And I’m going to.
You got it.
Yes, yes.
No injuries this year.
Right.
That’s exactly it.
This is from the definitive dictionary on baseball by Paul Dixon.
Paul Dixon’s baseball dictionary.
Yes, indeed.
Amazing work.
Yes.
And in it, he says, of Dreamers Month, at this point in the year, anything seems possible for any team.
Anything seems possible for any team.
Baseball is poetry, isn’t it?
It really is.
That’s nice.
It made me think about, for me, Dreamers Hour is about 6 a.m.
You know, I look out the window and I think, oh, there’s a little baby day out there.
What’s it going to grow up to be?
Right.
Sometimes it grows up to be an ogre.
Right.
Coffee pot doesn’t work.
Cat vomit on the floor again.
Going back to bed.
Exactly.
But I’m going to share some more baseball lingo later in the show because, as you said, it is poetry.
Oh, it’s so good.
Well, we’d love to hear your sports language.
What’s your favorite sports term?
Or ask us any question about language at all.
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