Wednesday, July 7, 2010

One Nil

Today will be an enthusiastic day for American sports announcers in television and radio stations. Here is the reason.

The meaning for the word “nil” is zero or nothing. In sports, it is used in soccer very commonly. However, in USA, when there is no score the term “nothing” is used. Never have they used the word “nil”. Also, soccer is not that popular in USA yet.

But there is lot of enthusiasm here during the soccer world cup. It is given very high priority in news. World cup matches are televised live.

Sports announcers get a kick out of saying the word “nil”. Actually, they love saying it. They enjoy saying it. If the score is something like 2 to 1, they don’t show that much enthusiasm. There is some enthusiasm when the score is “2 nil” or “3 nil” or “nil nil”. But their biggest pleasure is when they announce the score “one nil”. Their pronunciation is more pronounced. A few minutes ago, Spain beat Germany one nil. They will be very happily saying throughout the day:

Today Spain beat Germany onnneeennniiilll.

26 comments:

  1. lol...nil does sound like a nice word to keep repeating :P I do that sometimes if I learn a new word and like the sound of it :)

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  2. lolz...nil sounds better than nothing or zero for sure:)

    ya germany lost...seems the octopus is getting all correct :)

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  3. Thanks for your comments Titaxy. You are correct. If we like a new word, we repeat that word quite often.

    I thought nil means stand still and don't walk or run. ha ha ha.

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  4. Thanks for your comments Nazish. Yes, octopus is getting all correct. But this is nothing new. In Tamilnadu, every street has "kili joseyam" (parrot prediction/astrology) vendors and they are doing good business.

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  5. SG! Though I hardly watch television, I want to watch it today just to hear them say it!

    ~ NRIGirl

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  6. And on Sunday, all of the announcers will be saying that Netherlands beat Spain One Nil.

    Regards,
    Who Posted This?
    Go Netherlands!!

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  7. Thanks for your comments NRIGirl. Please watch TV tonight enjoy their saying "one nil" with a smile in their face.

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  8. Thanks for your commens Who Posted This. I agree with you for the first time. It could happen. One surprizing fact is how come this most dysfunctional team is in the finals. But again, in the past, USA has elected as President someone from the most dysfunctional family.

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  9. hahahhahahaah..
    well on another note Octopus oracle does it again! parrots/tarot cards are becoming redundant I guess.

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  10. Thanks for your comments Jayashree. You are right. It is zero. But people say Nil Nothing Nada. I like tennis in that way. In tennis zero means love. The score goes like love 15 and 15 love etc.

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  11. Thanks for your comments Shruthi. I believe you are right. They are becomming redundant.

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  12. I agree nil is a nice word...sounds better than zero

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  13. nice one.. i believe the importance is for the nil rather than one..

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  14. Nil in English is nothing or zero.In Tamil the meaning is - wait.I wonder how words take different meaning in diff.languages. A nice sweet post as usual

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  15. Thanks for your comments Neena. And, welcome to my blog. Yes, I agree with you that nil sounds better than zero.

    Neena, please visit here as often as possible. Thanks.

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  16. Thanks for your comments Swatantra. I agree with you. The importance and emphasis is on the world "nil".

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  17. Thanks for your comments Chitra. Yes, same words have different meaning in different languages. Sometimes, even more than one meaning. For example, in Tamil, nil means wait (as you said). It also means stand. Another meaning is stop walking.

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  18. Lol:)..its the same when a kid learns speaking..the first word is repeated all the time:)

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  19. Thanks for your comments Samvedna. You are correct. And, take pleasure in repeating.

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  20. well nil na.. tamil la stand :)... but at least this sounds better than ZEROOOO! :)... nandri hai mate..!

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  21. SO funny :):) Yeah yeah at times some words stick to the mind. Looks like 'nil' is a common one for all Americans!

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  22. Zeeero or noththing is too long, nil is short and sounds good! Interesting, SG!

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  23. nandri, nandri, and nandri for your commens Hary. Nil sounds better than zero

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  24. Thanks for your comments lostworld. It looks like it.

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  25. Thanks for your comments Sandhya. yes, Nil is short and sounds good.

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