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15 Ogo 2020 · The Oxford English Dictionary (OED – 2 nd edition, 1989) defines the phrase tennis, anyone?, also anyone for tennis?, who’s for tennis?, etc., as follows: a typical entrance or exit line given to a young man in a superficial drawing-room comedy, used attributively of (someone or something reminiscent of) this kind of comedy.
Tennis, anyone? dated An expression of indifference to matters beyond or outside of one's own sphere of concerns. The phrase was popularized in plays in the early 20th century as a jab at the aristocracy and upper class who cared little or not at all for the problems afflicting those in social classes beneath them.
The phrase "Anyone for tennis?" (also given as "Tennis, anyone?") is an English language idiom primarily of the 20th century. The phrase is used to invoke a stereotype of shallow, leisured, upper-class toffs ( tennis was, particularly before the widespread advent of public courts in the later 20th century, seen as a posh game for the rich, with ...
14 Feb 2012 · Richard Watts, Jr., recently retired critic for the Post, swears that he heard Humphrey, wearing a blue blazer and carrying a tennis racket, come onstage and speak the immortal line, “Tennis, anyone?” as the playwright’s device for getting unwanted characters off the stage, but he cannot now remember the name of the play.
29 Dis 2003 · 'Tennis anyone?' is a way of saying 'I don't worry about things outside my own small circle'. Whether this attitude was ever present in people, it was certainly used as a bit of a weapon against the presumed indifference.
The primary sense of ace is a playing card that has two meanings or functions: it takes the place of one, but it's also the most valuable card in the deck. In tennis, an ace is also valuable: it refers to serving with such power and speed that your opponent can't hit the ball back.
8 Apr 2017 · #jasonisaacs
