body English
- a twisting of the body by a player as if to help a ball already hit, rolled, or kicked to travel in the desired direction.
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Origin of body English
First recorded in 1905–10
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Related Words for body english
act, gesture, passage, stream, agitation, fluctuation, move, sweep, sign, tendency, oscillation, gesticulation, travel, mobility, progress, stir, inclination, direction, wavering, driftIdioms and Phrases with body english
body English
Movements of the body that express a person's feelings, as in His body English tells us just how tired he is. This expression originated about 1900 in such sports as bowling and ice hockey, where a player tries to influence the path of a ball or puck by moving his body in a particular direction. (It was based on the earlier use of English to mean “spin imparted to a ball.”)
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The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.