About angelina salacinski Expertise I am always reading books and I have various books on quotations. I can answer most questions on quotations from books or other areas.
Experience i am always doing quizzes so i have a broad knowledge about most things,but i love browsing through my quotation books.
Question i was wondering where the phrase charlie horse came from and how it became so common in the english slang. thanks mike
Answer Hi Michael
Cramp or stiffness in a muscle, most often in the thigh. First used in the 1880s among baseball players, the term was soon extended to more general use. Its true origin is disputed. Among the more likely theories proposed is that it alludes to the name of either a horse or an afflicted ball player who limped like one of the elderly draft horses formerly employed to drag the infield.
Mencken, however, gives two possible explanations. The first is that is named after Charlie "Duke" Esper, a southpaw pitcher who "walked like a lame horse." Esper, however, did not make his major league debut until 1890, so while it is possible that the term derives from him, the dates make it seem unlikely.
The second is that it comes from a lame horse owned by Charley, the groundskeeper in a Sioux City ballpark. Mencken gives no dates for this one.
