Is it only chess and tennis where the terms "game" and "match" are not synonymous? "Game of football" and "football match" would have the same meaning. Cricket uses the term "series" for a sequence of individual encounters forming the same competition.
Snooker uses "frame" rather than game, but again that is distinguishable from a match.
I think it's a competition structure thing - in sports where there is a tradition of playing one opponent multiple times before moving on to the next opponent, there exist separate terms for games and matches; in sports where there is no such tradition, the terms tend to be synonymous.
Is it only chess and tennis where the terms "game" and "match" are not synonymous? "Game of football" and "football match" would have the same meaning. Cricket uses the term "series" for a sequence of individual encounters forming the same competition.
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Snooker uses "frame" rather than game, but again that is distinguishable from a match.
ReplyDeleteI think it's a competition structure thing - in sports where there is a tradition of playing one opponent multiple times before moving on to the next opponent, there exist separate terms for games and matches; in sports where there is no such tradition, the terms tend to be synonymous.
Also note that as Matt Fletcher observes (and I should have spotted) our man can't tell the difference between winning and drawing, either.
ReplyDeleteBadminton, squash and table tennis also have matches consisting of several games.
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