Sporting One's Oak

Image by Peter H from Pixabay
@DWDavis (25805)
United States
February 16, 2024 9:00am CST
I came across this expression today while reading one of the stories in James Buncie's Sydney Chambers and the Perils of the Night. The story was "Unholy Night." My interest in etymology and the origin of words and phrases led me to want to learn what this expression means. Though at first glance, it seems somewhat salacious, the context belied such a meaning. The website worldwidewords.com provided an explanation that perfectly suited the context of the story. "To sport one’s oak is a rather dated expression, mainly from the universities of Oxford and Cambridge. College rooms of the older sort usually had two doors, an inner one for ordinary use and an outer, more massive wooden door, called the oak, which was normally folded back against the outside wall. (It was called the oak for the boring but reasonable reason that oak was the wood most commonly used to make it.) By convention, if you closed the outer door you indicated that you wanted to be left undisturbed, say because you were giving a tutorial. Sport here is an old use of the verb, meaning that one was exhibiting or showing something. - https://worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-spo2.htm, © Michael Quinion, 1996–. All rights reserved. Now that I know what the expression means, I can continue reading the story. Have you ever been reading and run into a word or expression you just had to look up before you could go on?
10 people like this
9 responses
@JudyEv (342100)
• Rockingham, Australia
17 Feb
I've had that a few times. I wonder how long before I run into this expression somewhere. That's what usually happens.
2 people like this
@DWDavis (25805)
• United States
17 Feb
It seems to have been a localized expression. You may find it used in a story about one of those schools.
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@FourWalls (69010)
• United States
16 Feb
Yes, frequently! I remember asking my parents what things in songs meant when I was little. The first I remember looking up was hoarding in the British context after Elton John used it in a song ("There was a face on a hoarding that someone had drawn on"). It's a billboard. Or it was back in 1975. Thanks for the history lesson!
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@DWDavis (25805)
• United States
16 Feb
And thank you for the interesting definition of hoarding. That's a new one to me. Which Sir Elton song was that in?
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@DWDavis (25805)
• United States
17 Feb
@FourWalls I'll have to look it up. I didn't have that album.
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@AmbiePam (93898)
• United States
16 Feb
Absolutely, I have! Usually the books in question were written before 1930, and it will irritate me if I don’t look it up. You taught me a new one today.
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@DWDavis (25805)
• United States
16 Feb
Older books tend to contain idioms, words, and phrases common in their time but practically unknown these days.
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@RebeccasFarm (90473)
• Arvada, Colorado
16 Feb
I knew what it meant anyway. Because I am a know it all having lived in Oxford. What a gorgeous display in the photo. Oh yes, all the time, and thanks for that website link too.
1 person likes this
@DWDavis (25805)
• United States
16 Feb
Now that I've found this website, I think I'll be visiting it often.
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@Ronrybs (19585)
• London, England
18 Feb
yes and I keep a handy dictionary of etymology handy, just in case
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@LindaOHio (181711)
• United States
17 Feb
Interesting. Yes, I will occasionally run into a word I need to look up. Have a good weekend.
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@Tampa_girl7 (50528)
• United States
16 Feb
Yes, I like to know the meaning of words and sayings .
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@RasmaSandra (80748)
• Daytona Beach, Florida
16 Feb
Thanks for the explanation, Never heard it before but I do like places with a lot of wood or oak, Yes, if I read something I do not understand I make a note of it and look it up on the net,
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@TheHorse (220245)
• Walnut Creek, California
16 Feb
I have. Cool photo.
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