I'm just going to copy-paste from part of the OED:
1. trans. To touch or hit (a person), as in the game of tag; = TIG v. 1878 F. H. HART Sazerac Lying Club 166 One of them, who had been ‘tagged’ seven times in succession, got tired, and proposed to change to playing house. 1891 Jrnl. Amer. Folk-Lore IV. 222 One player, who is ‘it’, attempts to tag, or touch, one of the other players. 1969 I. & P. OPIE Children's Games ii. 64 In Monmouthshire, Gloucestershire, and Oxfordshire, they speak of ‘tagging’ each other.
2. Baseball and Softball. a. To put out (a runner) by touching him with the ball (or with the gloved hand holding the ball) while he is off base. Also with out. Cf. TAG n.2 2. 1907 ‘B. L. STANDISH’ Dick Merriwell's Magnetism xxxviii. 243 He tagged Spratt, and this made the second man out. 1944 E. S. GARDNER Case of Black-Eyed Blonde 64 Keep cutting corners, Mason, and I'm going to catch you off first base one of these days, and then I'll tag you out. 1971 L. KOPPETT N.Y. Times Guide Spectator Sports i. 21 No one is attempting to tag him. 1976 Billings (Montana) Gaz. 28 June 1-C/2 (caption) Dave Konzen, of Buck's Bar slow pitch softball team, is tagged out as he slides against Heidelberg of Tacoma, Wash. 1982 S. B. FLEXNER Listening to America 34 Someone had the bright idea of forcing the runner out by throwing the ball to the base ahead of him or by tagging him with the ball rather than throwing the ball at him.
b. intr. to tag up: of a runner to (return to and) touch one's base after a fly ball is caught. 1942 Baseball Digest Dec. 52 Fletcher tagged up at third after the catch and then started for the plate. 1971 L. KOPPETT N.Y. Times Guide Spectator Sports i. 20 The runner ‘tags up’, waits at his base until the ball is caught, and still beats the throw to the next base. 1978 G. WRIGHT Illustr. Handbk. Sporting Terms 89/2 If the ball is caught..the base runners, unless tagging up.., may not advance.
c. trans. To make a hit or run off (a pitcher). 1961 in WEBSTER. 1974 Greenville (S. Carolina) News 23 Apr. 8/5 Seaver was taken out of the game after being tagged for hits by the first two batters in the Pittsburgh sixth.
ADDITIONS SERIES 1993
tag, v.2
Add: [1.] b. Boxing. To strike (an opponent), esp. with a powerful blow. slang (orig. U.S.). 1938 N.Y. Times 18 Aug. 24/4 Ambers hooked a left to the jaw... He then tagged the Negro with a hard left to the jaw. 1959 Sat. Even. Post 26 Sept. 75/2 ‘You were very good, Eddie.’..‘No. It was just that no one had ever tagged him before.’ 1986 Ring Aug. 10/3 If he fights me like he fought Colin Jones, I'll beat him. And if I tag him the way I tagged Shufford, he'll go down.
I meant "tag" as in "to touch" or "to hit," and preferred it over tap as it alludes both to the game tag, to give it that playful, non-serious feel, but also to give the allusion of boxing, where it's more powerful. Does that make sense? This is possibly one of those cases where I like my use of a word and others look at me like I'm crazy.
It was fun to get to write from the pov of so many different characters and also touch on all their different stories . . . though I still feel bad about the Everyone Is Gay syndrome. But hey, there are at least two possible het couples by the end! . . . Let's just ignore how many that's out of. >_>;;;
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2008-06-17 10:29 pm (UTC)1. trans. To touch or hit (a person), as in the game of tag; = TIG v.
1878 F. H. HART Sazerac Lying Club 166 One of them, who had been ‘tagged’ seven times in succession, got tired, and proposed to change to playing house. 1891 Jrnl. Amer. Folk-Lore IV. 222 One player, who is ‘it’, attempts to tag, or touch, one of the other players. 1969 I. & P. OPIE Children's Games ii. 64 In Monmouthshire, Gloucestershire, and Oxfordshire, they speak of ‘tagging’ each other.
2. Baseball and Softball. a. To put out (a runner) by touching him with the ball (or with the gloved hand holding the ball) while he is off base. Also with out. Cf. TAG n.2 2.
1907 ‘B. L. STANDISH’ Dick Merriwell's Magnetism xxxviii. 243 He tagged Spratt, and this made the second man out. 1944 E. S. GARDNER Case of Black-Eyed Blonde 64 Keep cutting corners, Mason, and I'm going to catch you off first base one of these days, and then I'll tag you out. 1971 L. KOPPETT N.Y. Times Guide Spectator Sports i. 21 No one is attempting to tag him. 1976 Billings (Montana) Gaz. 28 June 1-C/2 (caption) Dave Konzen, of Buck's Bar slow pitch softball team, is tagged out as he slides against Heidelberg of Tacoma, Wash. 1982 S. B. FLEXNER Listening to America 34 Someone had the bright idea of forcing the runner out by throwing the ball to the base ahead of him or by tagging him with the ball rather than throwing the ball at him.
b. intr. to tag up: of a runner to (return to and) touch one's base after a fly ball is caught.
1942 Baseball Digest Dec. 52 Fletcher tagged up at third after the catch and then started for the plate. 1971 L. KOPPETT N.Y. Times Guide Spectator Sports i. 20 The runner ‘tags up’, waits at his base until the ball is caught, and still beats the throw to the next base. 1978 G. WRIGHT Illustr. Handbk. Sporting Terms 89/2 If the ball is caught..the base runners, unless tagging up.., may not advance.
c. trans. To make a hit or run off (a pitcher).
1961 in WEBSTER. 1974 Greenville (S. Carolina) News 23 Apr. 8/5 Seaver was taken out of the game after being tagged for hits by the first two batters in the Pittsburgh sixth.
ADDITIONS SERIES 1993
tag, v.2
Add: [1.] b. Boxing. To strike (an opponent), esp. with a powerful blow. slang (orig. U.S.).
1938 N.Y. Times 18 Aug. 24/4 Ambers hooked a left to the jaw... He then tagged the Negro with a hard left to the jaw. 1959 Sat. Even. Post 26 Sept. 75/2 ‘You were very good, Eddie.’..‘No. It was just that no one had ever tagged him before.’ 1986 Ring Aug. 10/3 If he fights me like he fought Colin Jones, I'll beat him. And if I tag him the way I tagged Shufford, he'll go down.
I meant "tag" as in "to touch" or "to hit," and preferred it over tap as it alludes both to the game tag, to give it that playful, non-serious feel, but also to give the allusion of boxing, where it's more powerful. Does that make sense? This is possibly one of those cases where I like my use of a word and others look at me like I'm crazy.
It was fun to get to write from the pov of so many different characters and also touch on all their different stories . . . though I still feel bad about the Everyone Is Gay syndrome. But hey, there are at least two possible het couples by the end! . . . Let's just ignore how many that's out of. >_>;;;