What is the origin of the term "side-out" in volleyball?

February 15, 2006 8:07 AM

What is the origin of the term "side-out" in volleyball?

I know how the term is used, what I'm interested is where it originally comes from.

In terms of use: The "side-out" scoring system was the old system that was used, where a side-out was declared when the serving team violated a rule. The ball was given to the serving team’s opponent, and no points were awarded. Now that the "rallying" system is used, the "side-out" term simply refers to the serve changing hands.

But, regardless of those usages, where does the actual term come from? In other words, why is it not a "serve change" or something like that but specifically a "side-out"?

I searched on Google and couldn't come up with anything. Although, I did find the origins of the terms underdog, hat trick, and the 'love' in tennis if anyone is interested...

posted by tuxster to sports, hobbies, & recreation (9 comments total)

In the absence of an "official" explanation -- I searched and couldn't find anything, either -- I usually rely on the simplest possible interpretation. Couldn't it just be a quick way of saying "Serving side is out," where out means they lost the serve?
posted by pmbuko at 8:25 AM on February 15, 2006

Explain love! :-)
posted by SuperSquirrel at 8:42 AM on February 15, 2006

pmbuko, that's what my current thinking is, but I wanted to see if anyone can come out with a historical or official explanation for it. It still is curious though, why not 'serve change' or 'lost serve' but 'side out'? Maybe because it's shorter and sounds more dramatic?

SuperSquirrel: The explanation from Oxford Dictionaries is that it has been adapted from the phrase "to play for the 'love' of the game" (that is, to play for nothing). The idea is that a person who fails to make any points is playing for love, rather than playing to win, or playing for an award or cash reward.
posted by tuxster at 8:47 AM on February 15, 2006

Weird, I always heard that "love" is a result of the use of the french for "egg" l'oeuf, being mispronounced by the english! Of course, they used the egg to refer to the shape of a zero.

I hope that makes sense. I am a little head-coldy today and not that sharp.

Can't help with the side out by the way, sorry.
posted by Richat at 8:57 AM on February 15, 2006

Richat: the Oxford Dictionary mentions that this is a common belief but that it is highly unlikely that this is the source of the term. Another page I read was concurring with the same conclusion saying that there was no historical evidence from France that the word l'oeuf was ever used to mean zero.
posted by tuxster at 9:18 AM on February 15, 2006

Explain hat trick and underdog too! I'm very curious!
posted by TunnelArmr at 10:53 AM on February 15, 2006

Now that the "rallying" system is used, the "side-out" term simply refers to the serve changing hands. ... why is it not a "serve change" or something like that but specifically a "side-out"?

Side out is more than just a serve change -- the non-serving team has won the serve and the subsequent scoring opportunities by preventing the serving team from successfully playing the ball -- the ball has gone "out" on the serving side. Calling it just a serve change infers tennis-style scoring of predetermined, regimented switches, which is not the case in volleyball.

While the term came first, I honestly think the term itself came into greater popularity and usage because of the Sideout brand of clothing, popularized by Sinjin Smith.
posted by frogan at 11:13 AM on February 15, 2006

frogan: I do appreciate the difference in Volleyball (per your comparison to Tennis), although many think that with the rallying system the value of the serve has diminished and in fact may have become a disadvantage (to overly simplify, you get only one chance to get it across, vs. three passes/chances for the receiving team). Regardless, I said 'serve change or something like that" to mean something that can more easily be associated with what is actually taking place. Call it 'serve gain' or 'serve takeover' or something you may find more appropriate that reflects the nuances of Volleyball. Interesting comments about the Sideout brand though. Do you have any outside reference to back up that perspective?

TunnelArmr, here are the other two terms I found:

Hat trick - Apparently started out in England with cricket games, where a bowler who took three wickets in three successive balls was, in the past, awarded a brand new hat (actual physical hat) by his club to commemorate the feat. It seems like the the phrase spread to North America in the 1940s, when a Toronto haberdasher started giving out hats as awards to Maple Leaf hockey team players who scored three goals in a game.

Underdog - Apparently comes from 19th dogfights where two dogs would be forced to fight each other. The winning dog would be called a "top dog" and the loser dog was called an "under dog". It then spread to other sports to reflect the side that is not favored by majority to win the competition.

What I find interesting is that the "top dog" hasn't seem to have spread as successfully, but the "underdog" has. Seems like people have more of a fascination with the teams that are not favored to win.
posted by tuxster at 11:54 AM on February 15, 2006

Interesting comments about the Sideout brand though. Do you have any outside reference to back up that perspective?

Anecdotal only. Grew up in Manhattan Beach, Calif., the home of beach volleyball. I kid you not, the term just wasn't widely used in the beach game until the Sideout T-shirts started showing up. The term was there, but no one used it. You just said, "it's their serve, it's our serve, etc."
posted by frogan at 2:43 PM on February 15, 2006