Date:  Tue, 13 Jan 1998 22:26:58 -0500
From:  Fred Shapiro <fred.shapiro[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]YALE.EDU>
Subject: Re: "level the playing field"

On Tue, 13 Jan 1998, Gerald Cohen wrote:

>   I recently received a query about the expression "to level the playing
> field." In what way is a playing field leveled? What is the origin of this
> unusual expression? Is it older than the past decade or so?
>
>   Can any ADS members help out on this?

I'm not currently an ADS member, but I can tell you that the earliest
citation yielded by Nexis is from American Banker, 8 Jan. 1979: "Mr.
Brawner said the Oregon BA welcomed 'any and all competition, on a level
playing field,' a metaphor the association has used frequently in
arguments for 'competitive equality.'" All the earliest occurrences on
Nexis are from similar banking contexts.

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 Fred R. Shapiro               Coeditor (with Jane Garry)
 Associate Librarian for Public Services   TRIAL AND ERROR: AN OXFORD
  and Lecturer in Legal Research      ANTHOLOGY OF LEGAL STORIES
 Yale Law School               Oxford University Press, 1998
 e-mail: fred.shapiro[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]yale.edu        ISBN 0-19-509547-2
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