ORIGIN OF THE TERM "FREE AGENT"
Joel Velasco
sports connotation but more importantly in its work-related meaning
(i.e. freelancer, temp worker, etc.) I have found some info on this at
the web page below, but it is still very weak. Any more info and leads
would be great.
http://www.freeagentnation.com/university/history.html
Thank you very much,
Fabian
Joel Velasco wrote in message <3710BF25...@yahoo.com>...
>I am looking for the etymology of the term "Free Agent" both in its
>sports connotation but more importantly in its work-related meaning
>(i.e. freelancer, temp worker, etc.) I have found some info on this at
>the web page below, but it is still very weak. Any more info and leads
>would be great.
Well, freelance is derived from mercenary cavalrymen, who literally had a
lance, although it must be said that their services were not free. they were
free in the sense of having no lord. I suspect 'free agent' was derived from
this when some bright spark realised that mercenaries tend not to carry 15
foot pointy sticks anymore.
---
Fabian
Rule One: Question the unquestionable,
ask the unaskable, eff the ineffable,
think the unthinkable, and screw the inscrutable.
Evan Kirshenbaum
> Well, freelance is derived from mercenary cavalrymen, who literally
> had a lance, although it must be said that their services were not
> free. they were free in the sense of having no lord. I suspect 'free
> agent' was derived from this when some bright spark realised that
> mercenaries tend not to carry 15 foot pointy sticks anymore.
It is interesting, though, that MWCD10 dates the word only back to
1955 and only gives the sports sense:
a professional athlete (as a baseball player) who is free to
negotiate a contract with any team.
Even more intriguingly, in the prior edition (MW9NCD, 1986), the
example is a football player rather than a baseball player. I wonder
why they felt it necessary to switch?
--
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will...@ahec.edu
Evan Kirshenbaum <ev...@garrett.hpl.hp.com> wrote:
> It is interesting, though, that MWCD10 dates the word only back to
> 1955 and only gives the sports sense:
>
> a professional athlete (as a baseball player) who is free to
> negotiate a contract with any team.
But the mystery is how the 'agent' part could originate in sports. I
generally do not think of athletes as the representatives of the owners of
the teams. It would make more sense for the term to have originated in a
field like sales.
> Even more intriguingly, in the prior edition (MW9NCD, 1986), the
> example is a football player rather than a baseball player. I wonder
> why they felt it necessary to switch?
Did they quote the 1955 occurrence, or just give the date?
Gary Williams
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Evan Kirshenbaum
> In article <v9hg166...@garrett.hpl.hp.com>,
> Evan Kirshenbaum <ev...@garrett.hpl.hp.com> wrote:
>
> > It is interesting, though, that MWCD10 dates the word only back to
> > 1955 and only gives the sports sense:
> >
> > a professional athlete (as a baseball player) who is free to
> > negotiate a contract with any team.
>
> But the mystery is how the 'agent' part could originate in sports.
> I generally do not think of athletes as the representatives of the
> owners of the teams.
Well, agents in sports represent the players, not the teams, so it may
be that a "free-agent player" was one whose agent was allowed to
negotiate with any team, as opposed to being restricted to negotiating
with the team that held the player's rights.
> It would make more sense for the term to have originated in a field
> like sales.
>
> > Even more intriguingly, in the prior edition (MW9NCD, 1986), the
> > example is a football player rather than a baseball player. I
> > wonder why they felt it necessary to switch?
>
> Did they quote the 1955 occurrence, or just give the date?
No, unfortunately MWCD[1] only gives dates, they don't actually quote.
[1] In case anybody's wondering, I have MW9NCD at home[2] and MWCD10 at
work, and I usually find it easier[3] to look things up in the
physical dictionary at hand than to use the online server.
[2] And MW8NCD, but we leave that one downstairs for Boggle
challenges.
[3] And more enjoyable: I almost always notice something interesting
in the process of looking.
--
Evan Kirshenbaum +------------------------------------
HP Laboratories |A specification which calls for
1501 Page Mill Road, Building 1U |network-wide use of encryption, but
Palo Alto, CA 94304 |invokes the Tooth Fairy to handle
|key distribution, is a useless
kirsh...@hpl.hp.com |farce.
(650)857-7572 | Henry Spencer
will...@ahec.edu
Evan Kirshenbaum <ev...@garrett.hpl.hp.com> wrote:
> will...@ahec.edu writes:
>
> > In article <v9hg166...@garrett.hpl.hp.com>,
> > Evan Kirshenbaum <ev...@garrett.hpl.hp.com> wrote:
> >
> > > It is interesting, though, that MWCD10 dates the word only back to
> > > 1955 and only gives the sports sense:
> > >
> > > a professional athlete (as a baseball player) who is free to
> > > negotiate a contract with any team.
> >
> > But the mystery is how the 'agent' part could originate in sports.
> > I generally do not think of athletes as the representatives of the
> > owners of the teams.
>
> Well, agents in sports represent the players, not the teams, so it may
> be that a "free-agent player" was one whose agent was allowed to
Good theory, but I don't think the use of agents was prevalent in 1955. Also,
it is the player himself, not his representative, who is referred to as a free
agent.