Pedal to the metal.

Dear Word Detective: I was wondering about the origin of the usage of “coming through in the clutch” or “clutch performer,” as is commonly heard in sports. How did the characteristic of being effective in high pressure situations become associated with this term? In the circles I roll in this term has become a popular one, and we will often use it as a compliment of the highest order for an individual or an act (e.g., “That guy’s beard is clutch”). Therefore, it would be particularly interesting to me to learn the development of it.– Jordan Blasetti.

That’s a good question. Your use of “clutch” as a positive adjective is a new one on me, and if it attained general usage, it would mark an abrupt departure from the existing use of “clutch” to mean “crucial, stressful moment.” At present, the only positive use of “clutch” I can find is the term “clutch artist,” a fairly rare term for a truck driver (referring to expertise with the “clutch” pedal).

To begin at the beginning, “clutch” first appeared in English in the 14th century (from the Middle English “cloke,” claw) with the meaning “the claw of a beast or bird of prey.” By the 16th century, we were using it in the sense of “the human hand,” especially in the plural and with overtones of cruelty or danger, still heard in phrases such as “in the clutches of the criminals.” In tandem with the verb “to clutch,” the noun eventually moved on to meaning simply “very tight grip on, or desperate grab at, something.” The mechanical sort of “clutch,” which connects or disconnects power from an engine, dates to the early 18th century and takes its name from its tight grip when engaged.

The use of “clutch” to mean “a high-pressure situation or critical moment” was definitely popularized in sports, particularly baseball, where the term was in use by the 1920s. A poster to the mailing list of the American Dialect Society a few years ago suggested that the usage may have been drawn from the famous poem “Invictus” by the English poet W.E. Henley, which contains the line “In the fell clutch of circumstance, I have not winced nor cried aloud” (“fell” meaning “cruel or fierce,” as in “one fell swoop”). Inasmuch as “Invictus” (Latin for “unconquered”) was part of the standard English curriculum in many schools of the period, it’s certainly possible that the word simply popped into the mind of a sportswriter and grew from there.

But it’s equally likely that “in the clutch” meaning in the “moment of crisis” arose as a variant of “in the pinch,” also meaning “at a critical juncture,” which had been used in baseball since the first years of the 20th century. This “pinch” also gave us “pinch hitter,” a substitute batter who steps in when the team is in an especially tight spot.