Word Origin

[Mesmer]

What is the origin of the expression "Rubber" as referred to in the context of a sports competition? The question was raised on the BBC TV commentary/chat during rain affected Wimbledon and no one could provide an answer. I am sure an Answer Banker will be able to provide an answer for them!

[rojam]

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Why_is_a_Davis_Cup_m atch_called_a_rubber

[Mesmer]

Thanks rojam for your answer. I know a series or decider in a series in a sporting context is called a rubber but why? Who decided it should be called a "rubber" and why what is the relevance of the word?

[Quizmonster]

The earliest use of the word 'rubber' to suggest a set of games or a deciding game - best of three, five etc - was in the 16th century and in reference to bowls rather than cards. I mean bowls, as played on grass rather than in a bowling-alley. Its first use in card-playing - whist, specifically - came nearly 200 years later. The actual origin of the word is obscure, according to The Oxford English Dictionary, but it appears to have nothing to do with 'rubber' as in 'rubber ball'.

[Mesmer]

Very interesting Quizmonster but you do not answer the question. Perhaps this is one where the origin of the expression is lost in the mists of time.

[Quizmonster]

Well, Mesmer, if - as I said above - the language scholars at The Oxford English Dictionary have been unable to find a convincing source for the word, I'm pretty sure no-one on AnswerBank is suddenly going to find one!
They specifically use the word 'obscure' in relation to its origin and so that's just what you're going to have to accept, I'm afraid. I didn't answer your question, simply because there is no known answer. Cheers

[Mesmer]

Thanks for you second post. I suspect you are right. If the BBC come up with an answer I'll let you know.

[jno]

if it's from bowls, I wonder if it's anything to do with the other bowls phrase 'the rub of the green'. I can't think how, of course.

[kempie]

QM - your statement

"if ... the language scholars at The Oxford English Dictionary have been unable to find a convincing source for the word, I'm pretty sure no-one on AnswerBank is suddenly going to find one!"

seems to fly in the face of those who have contributed to the cornucopia of information that is the OED via the excellent BBC production "Balderdash & Piffle" and are not language scholars.

[Quizmonster]

Kempie, every edition of Balderdash & Piffle that I have seen has been concerned with finding earlier datings for words/phrases than those already recorded by the dictionary. I cannot recall one which really questioned - never mind discovered - the actual source of the individual words concerned. I may not have seen them all, of course.
For example, there was one which studied the origin of the name '99' for a type of ice-cream. Nobody looked at the words 'ninety' and 'nine' as such - which is what I would call etymology - but only the phrase as a whole in this one particular context.
I certainly would not decry the efforts of the word-hunters - the word used on the programme, as best I recall, for these sterling people - who make that production possible.
I still think we are none the wiser as to why 'rubber' means what it means in the present context and I don't believe we ever will be.
(And there I'll leave it. I've had enough lately of getting drawn into elaborate linguistic discussions which go nowhere on AnswerBank! Cheers)