Football Cliches

[DJC]

Bob Murphy is on the wireless this morning and he just mentioned “running on top of the ground”.

He said that he doesn’t understand its etymology or meaning but, watching yesterday’s GF, the thought came to him that the Brisbane players were “running on top of the ground”!

[kruddler]

Bob Murphy is on the wireless this morning and he just mentioned “running on top of the ground”.

He said that he doesn’t understand its etymology or meaning but, watching yesterday’s GF, the thought came to him that the Brisbane players were “running on top of the ground”!

Similar in swimming. "Swimming on top of the water."

I'm not sure of where its come from either, but it could be relatively simple.

Back in my cross country days, we used to run through all conditions. One day there was quite a bit of run and we were running through some pretty chopped up and muddy areas.
Those who were 'running on top of the ground' seemed to not sink in and get bogged down in the mud.
Those who were struggling where very much sinking in the mud and looked like they were in slow motion compared to the others.

Might be a throwback to similar muddy times back before grounds had better drainage and were mud pits.

[PaulP]

I think i just means a team that has plenty of run, not slowing up or suffering from heavy legs.

[DJC]

I think i just means a team that has plenty of run, not slowing up or suffering from heavy legs.

I think that the meaning is clear but how does one run if not on top of the ground?

Unless it’s muddy of course, as in Kruddler’s example.

“Swimming on top of the water” makes more sense; the faster you go, the less water you displace.  Of course, if you’re a Basilisk lizard, you can “run on top of the water”.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QFWynzID1Ao

[PaulP]

I think that the meaning is clear but how does one run if not on top of the ground?

Unless it’s muddy of course, as in Kruddler’s example.

“Swimming on top of the water” makes more sense; the faster you go, the less water you displace.  Of course, if you’re a Basilisk lizard, you can “run on top of the water”.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QFWynzID1Ao

Fair enough. Idiomatic words and phrases typically tend to live apart from linguistic logic, so little point in approaching it from a logical angle IMO.

If you google that phrase, basically nothing comes up. Its origins are probably like much of folklore, i.e not possible to identify a single source or origin.

[DJC]

Yes Paul, it’s up there with “lower their eyes” - which Brisbane did quite often apparently - and “training the house down”. ?