Date: Mon, 6 Jan 1997 08:30:25 -0500

From: Wayne Glowka wglowka[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]MAIL.GAC.PEACHNET.EDU

Subject: Re: WOTY pre-vu -Reply



Hm! In watching the gymnastic events, I noticed "nail" only in "nail

a landing/dismount", and I gathered from the use and accompanying

commentary that the phrase referred to coming off the equipment to

the floor, or (in the floor routines) out of a jump or flip (or

whatever), to a clean landing with both feet on the floor, without

moving the feet or taking a step to recover one's balance. I

associated the metaphor with the image that the feet stick to the

floor as if nailed to it.



Has anyone heard this word used for any event other than a gymnastic

one, and referring to anything but a landing?



Allan Metcalf AAllan[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]AOL.COM 12/30/96, 01:25pm

Some of this year's top candidates are:

* nail (v) -- to accomplish perfectly, as in an Olympic event



At the ADS meeting, Allan handed me a news clipping indicating that Clinton

had "nailed the election." Many of us noted that the sexual connotations

of the term had apparently been sanitized enough for use in the mass media.









Wayne Glowka

Professor of English

Director of Research and Graduate Student Services

Georgia College & State University

Milledgeville, GA 31061

912-453-4222

FAX: 912-454-0873

Office: Arts & Sciences 3-04

wglowka[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]mail.gac.peachnet.edu