stiffs n.pl. in soccer, a reserve or second-string team or its players; a league, figurative or real, of such teams. Editorial Note: Usually constructed with the definite article: the stiffs, similar to baseball’s the minors. Etymological Note: This is directly related to stiff ‘an ordinary man or sportsman.’ (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
That little button on top of a baseball cap? Some people call it a squatchee or a squatcho, the latter popularized by comedian Rich Hall’s book Sniglets (Amazon), which features apt but made-up words that aren’t in any dictionary. This is part of a...
Why do baseball announcers say that a pitcher who throws a high fast ball is bringing high cheese? The cheese might be related to big cheese, a term that in turn may go back to Hindi and related languages where chiz means “thing.” This...