Phrase Origins: Charley Horse

When I was in grade school, twice a year, we had to do the President’s Physical Fitness test. I was terrible at this. Thankfully, this was the only time we were actually graded on our performance in Physical Education (P.E.). I always participated. In middle school and high school I always “dressed out,” which meant wearing the gym uniform we had to wear for class. I hated that it was dark blue and we had to wear it in the Louisiana heat, but for me, getting a bad grade was worse.

Anyway, it was always the same set of physical activities we had to do over a week or two week period – run a half mile (and then a mile when we were older), bean bag relay, flexed arm hang, crunches, and the V-sit reach. I could complain about what I didn’t find fair about these, but what I am writing about has to do with the crunches only.

One day, when I was quite young, a came home and the area around my hip was sore. We had been doing crunches for the President’s Physical Fitness Test. My daddy asked me if I had a Charley horse. I wasn’t sure what he meant. I only know of “Charlie Horse,” the puppet that belonged to Sheri Lewis. This confused me and I had no idea what a Charley horse was. My Daddy explained that it was leg soreness or a leg cramp. From then on, when we were doing crunches, if I had the cramp, I could come home and say if I had a Charley horse.

However, this didn’t tell me about the origin of the phrase. I only knew the meaning of the phrase. It seems that nobody truly knows the origin of the phrase. People have only guessed at the phrase origins of “Charley horse.”

The least plausible is the idea that policemen in 17th century England were called Charleys and they ended up going to America. When they went to America, they had to do a lot of walking, and this gave them sore legs.

In a more plausible idea, some say that in the 1890s, a lame horse used to pull a roller onto the Chicago White Sox field. It is said that this horse’s name was Charley, so then leg cramps were named after the horse. However, even if there was a horse named Charley, the phrase appeared before the horse appeared.

The most plausible explanation is that the player Charley Radbourne (or perhaps Charley Radbourn) had the nickname “Old Hoss.” It is said that he got a leg cramp during a baseball game in the 1880s and the cramps were named after him. It is known that he did have the nickname “Old Hoss.” However, it is not certain that this is the phrase origin because there is no documentation.

There are reports of the phrase, “Charley horse,” appearing in Sporiting Life in 1886. However, this cannot seem to be found. It is certain that the phrase appeared in July 1887 in The Fort Wayne Gazette when it ran a story with the line, ” Whatever ails a player this year they call it ‘Charley horse. ‘Tom and Jerry horse’ would fit many cases.

It is also certain that this is an American phrase.

 

Sources:

Martin, G. (n.d.). Charley horse. The meanings and origins of sayings and phrases . Retrieved April 23, 2012, from http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/charley-horse.html

Old Hoss Radbourn Statistics and History – Baseball-Reference.com. (n.d.). Baseball-Reference.com – Major League Baseball Statistics and History . Retrieved April 23, 2012, from http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/r/radboch01.sht ml

TELEVISIONARCHIVES. (n.d.). Dedicated to Shari Lewis .Commercial with Charlie Horse – YouTube .YouTube – Broadcast Yourself. . Retrieved April 23, 2012, from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vNzahPxI7is

Valdez, S. (n.d.). A Look Back: Baseball In The 1800’s. | Bleacher Report. Bleacher Report | Entertaining sports news, photos and slideshows . Retrieved April 23, 2012, from http://bleacherreport.com/articles/259207-a-look-back-baseball-in-the-1800s

dtvmiami. (n.d.). shari lewis – YouTube . YouTube – Broadcast Yourself. . Retrieved April 23, 2012, from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G2b4vUZ7wR4