http://www.word-detective.com/2009/10/uncle-charlie/ Semper Ubi Sub Ubi Wed, 20 Mar 2013 19:32:55 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 http://www.word-detective.com/2009/10/uncle-charlie/comment-page-1/#comment-21260 OL’ CHARLIE » meetthematts.com Mon, 08 Aug 2011 14:54:39 +0000 http://www.word-detective.com/?p=2090#comment-21260 [...] happened to our catcher today.  His next time up a big curveball (an Uncle Charlie) bounced off his helmet…so he starts trotting to first only to get called back for not doing [...] [...] happened to our catcher today.  His next time up a big curveball (an Uncle Charlie) bounced off his helmet…so he starts trotting to first only to get called back for not doing [...]

]]> http://www.word-detective.com/2009/10/uncle-charlie/comment-page-1/#comment-3196 Dave Khan Wed, 28 Oct 2009 20:31:55 +0000 http://www.word-detective.com/?p=2090#comment-3196 It always seemed self-evident to me (though admittedly without any other, supporting evidence, as "self-evident" would imply) that "Charlie" was simply a colorful association with the initial "C" for curveball, in much the same way that "foxtrot" means the letter "F" and "tango" means "T". The addition of the "Uncle" is no real stretch, and adds a bit of flavor, but I have also heard the pitch referred to as simply "the Charlie" on occasion. It always seemed self-evident to me (though admittedly without any other, supporting evidence, as “self-evident” would imply) that “Charlie” was simply a colorful association with the initial “C” for curveball, in much the same way that “foxtrot” means the letter “F” and “tango” means “T”. The addition of the “Uncle” is no real stretch, and adds a bit of flavor, but I have also heard the pitch referred to as simply “the Charlie” on occasion.

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