If a baseball is hit really hard, it’s said that the batter powdered it, used to refer to hitting or pitching that’s especially powerful, as if the ball had been fired from a cannon. Similarly, a pitcher with a blistering fastball is said to be throwing smoke. This is part of a complete episode.
Transcript of “Really Powdered It!”
Hello, you have A Way with Words.
Hi, Martha. How’s it going?
Guy Leffle.
Well, in the Upper Peninsula, we got a dialect.
It’s like if you want to go downtown, nobody says that.
You say downtown.
And whenever we play baseball, it’s like you’d ask somebody,
I got a hit the other day.
Well, how did you do? How was it?
And they’d go, well, I powdered it.
That translates not only to hitting, but to pitching.
It’s like if you talk to a pitcher, you know,
You threw a really fast pitch.
How fast was the pitch?
Well, I powdered it.
And so I just, I don’t know if you’ve heard that.
The powdered, it goes in a lot of,
It has a lot of different possibilities.
Yeah, that’s classic.
That goes back at least to the early 20th century.
That’s a great term.
The idea being here that the ball moves so fast,
It was like it was fired by black powder,
Like from a cannon or from a gun.
Yeah.
Although some people think,
At least when the pitcher powders it, maybe it’s because the catcher’s mitt throws off waves of dust.
But I think it’s more likely that it’s like it was fired by black powder.
And it might be related to older expressions like fireball or to throw smoke, which also means fastball.
I’ll be dig on.
You ever heard of throwing smoke?
That also means powerful pitching.
That’s enlightening.
Yeah, it’s a good one, right?
You know, by the way, if you’re a huge baseball fan, the book for you, Guy, is Dixon’s Baseball Dictionary.
Paul Dixon’s Baseball Dictionary.
I really appreciate talking to you guys again, Mike.
And also to devote this talking to you to Dick Burroughs in town.
He just passed away.
He was the guy, the voice of baseball and Escanama, the voice of football, the voice of everything.
And he’s just such a brilliant man.
But he was an English teacher.
He taught everybody how to talk.
And my dad was an English teacher at the college.
And it was just great.
The appreciation for English that you guys helped provide is just beyond words.
Just a million dollars.
Well, back to the man then.
Well, Gaia, we appreciate the shout-out to a leader and a legend.
And we thank you for your entertainment.
Take care of yourself.
You got it, Grand Martha.
Pleasure to talk to you.
Be well.
Great talking with you, Guy.
Bye-bye.
What’s the word or phrase you’re wondering about?
Call us, 877-929-9673.
Thank you.
