Re: What does this mean - rooting for the underdog


"Dan S." <danUNDERscoreGOEShereSLAUGHTER@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:mn.dd207d881b0b5f51.87392@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
After serious thinking pritsy wrote :
"HVS" <usenet@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:Xns9B07DBF88D9B9whhvans@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
On 27 Aug 2008, wrote

Hi,

I saw a story on Newsweek and here is a sentence I do not quite
understand:

Her father, a strong believer in the work ethic and rooting for
the underdog, said, "Suck it up and get back in there."

What I do not understand is "rooting for the underdog", what
does it mean?

Cheering for the person who is expected to lose a contest.

It most probably comes from dog-fighting. A subservient dog assumes a
supine position, belly up, while the dominant dog stands over it.

Several common expressions derive from former spectator sports now
considered abhorrent. My favorite is the Spanish equivalent of "all
bark and no bite",
"buch y plumas", literally "crop and feathers", obviously from a
cockfighting. origin.

Dogs don't have to fight for them to determine their rank in a pack. In
fact, it is most often done through aggressive play. No, dog-fighting is
and has always been a disgusting sport, and attributing something so
common and acceptable to it is to give it tacit approval or some sort of
legitimacy.

I certainly did not intend my response to be a defense of dog-fighting!
However, it is unrealistic to deny that it was very widespread thoughout
the world and was very common in England.
Unfortunately, my copy of the OED is not available, but perhaps someone
else can verify whether my guess was correct or not..

To quote from the wikipedia entry on dogfighting:
"Blood sports involving the baiting of animals has occurred since
antiquity, most famously at the Colosseum in Rome during the reign of the
Roman Empire. However, in contemporary times, it is most associated with
the English, who pursued it with utmost earnestness, which was barely known
elsewhere in the world. For over six hundred years the pastime flourished,
reaching the peak of its popularity during the sixteenth century. The
various animal types involved in the bait allowed for the breed
specialization and basic anatomical forms of fighting dogs, which we see
today.
Dog fighting has been popular in many countries throughout history and
continues to be practiced both legally and illegally around the world."




"


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