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What does "field a question" mean?



 
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ESL Forums | English Vocabulary, Grammar and Idioms
Bargain vs moderate | it was the first time that OR when
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What does "field a question" mean? Tue Jun 03, 2008 13:10 pm  What does "field a question" mean?		  
"VALENCIA - The defender of the "game portal with prizes" has spent two minutes fielding a volley of questions, when somebody in the room asks: "Where will the money come from?"'

[El Pais / Ignacio Zafra / Expatica]

What does "field a question" mean?
Molly
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Joined: 12 Feb 2008
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What does "field a question" mean? Tue Jun 03, 2008 13:35 pm  What does "field a question" mean?		  
It means to let people ask questions and to answer them. I think it probably comes from baseball, where there are three players who stand in the remote area called the outfield and catch balls that fly toward them.
Jamie (K)
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Location: Detroit, Michigan, USA
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What does "field a question" mean? Tue Jun 03, 2008 13:41 pm  What does "field a question" mean?		  
Jamie (K) wrote:
It means to let people ask questions and to answer them. I think it probably comes from baseball, where there are three players who stand in the remote area called the outfield and catch balls that fly toward them.

Would it be from cricket before that?
Molly
I'm a Communicator ;-)


Joined: 12 Feb 2008
Posts: 3843
What does "field a question" mean? Tue Jun 03, 2008 13:51 pm  What does "field a question" mean?		  
Molly wrote:
Jamie (K) wrote:
It means to let people ask questions and to answer them. I think it probably comes from baseball, where there are three players who stand in the remote area called the outfield and catch balls that fly toward them.

Would it be from cricket before that?

I think that whatever game developed into baseball is as old as whatever game developed into cricket. Baseball didn't come from cricket. If you search for the exact phrase "field the ball" from UK websites, you get pages many sports, including baseball and rugby. The only way we can know anything is to see how old that usage of "field" actually is. If it's from the 1700s, there's just as good a chance it came from baseball as from cricket, and if it's from before that, it could have come from rounders.
Jamie (K)
I'm a Communicator ;-)


Joined: 24 Feb 2006
Posts: 4337
Location: Detroit, Michigan, USA
What does "field a question" mean? Tue Jun 03, 2008 14:07 pm  What does "field a question" mean?		  
Quote:
I think that whatever game developed into baseball is as old as whatever game developed into cricket. Baseball didn't come from cricket.

Yes, I know that, Jamie, but I was asking whether you thought the expreesion "field a question" existed before baseball.

Interesting:

The verb meaning "to stop and return the ball" is first recorded 1823, originally in cricket; figurative sense is from 1902.

http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?l=f&p=4
Molly
I'm a Communicator ;-)


Joined: 12 Feb 2008
Posts: 3843
What does "field a question" mean? Tue Jun 03, 2008 15:46 pm  What does "field a question" mean?		  
Molly wrote:
Interesting:

The verb meaning "to stop and return the ball" is first recorded 1823, originally in cricket; figurative sense is from 1902.

http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?l=f&p=4

I don't actually believe that source. I imagine they were just checking British sources. Notice that it says the meaning was "first recorded" in 1823. That doesn't mean first used. If it had been used only in association with cricket and only that late, then it would have crossed to America only in the figurative meaning and probably wouldn't be used in baseball. My guess is that the expression predates both baseball and cricket.
Jamie (K)
I'm a Communicator ;-)


Joined: 24 Feb 2006
Posts: 4337
Location: Detroit, Michigan, USA
What does "field a question" mean? Tue Jun 03, 2008 19:01 pm  What does "field a question" mean?		  
Quote:
My guess is that the expression predates both baseball and cricket.

I see. How old do you think "field a question" is?
Molly
I'm a Communicator ;-)


Joined: 12 Feb 2008
Posts: 3843
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