Fiero425
Legend
I always saw "raquet" as a euro/French spelling going back to when I was a kid back in the 70's!
Is it racket or racquet?
- Thread starter cockneyDjoker
- Start date
I always saw "raquet" as a euro/French spelling going back to when I was a kid back in the 70's!
All I have is a dictionary, it is true that they list "racquet" as a variant so in truth to say it is wrong is a bit harsh... However, when looking for the word if you type in "racquet" it pulls up "racket". To me, a "variant" is just a way of saying it has been misspelled so commonly that both can be accepted. When using the term as a propper noun in the name of an association or club "Racquet" is frequently used. That is as used in a name and not as used to describe the implement.I always saw "raquet" as a euro/French spelling going back to when I was a kid back in the 70's!
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SystemicAnomaly
Bionic Poster
It is not really as straightforward as Wikipedia (and Oxford) would have you believe. Racket has multiple (primarily, 3) different meanings. Its definition for sporting goods equipment (for tennis, badminton, etc) is often the 2nd or 3rd definition in UK dictionaries. Racquet is used only to refer to sporting goods equipment. It is never (properly) used for the other meanings of Racket. Many citizens/residents of the UK and some other other English-speaking countries use the 2 different spellings to make a distinction between these uses. That is, they always use Racquet when referring to sporting equipment. And they use the Racket spelling when referring to a commotion, a loud (distressing) noise, or a dishonest & profitable business practice.
This is my understanding of common usage in the UK (and, possibly, Australia & India).
@Azure, @ak24alive & @Knightrider : pls comment on usage in India
In the US (maybe North America), there is a very strong preference for using Racket for all meanings. Racquet is sometimes used as a high-brow spelling for sporting equipment (sometimes for the name of sporting goods stores that specialize in racket/racquet sports). Racquet is never used for other meanings of Racket in North America. Many US spell-checks will flag the Racquet spelling as incorrect. Switching over to a UK spell-check will change this -- it readily accepts the Racquet spelling.
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Azure
G.O.A.T.
You can raise a racket to play with a racquet here.
Karma Tennis
Legend
For me the terms "Tennis Racquet" and "Tennis Racket" have two different meanings.
A "Tennis Racquet" is a piece of sporting equipment used to play tennis with.
A "Tennis Racket" is the noise the crowd makes when Nick Kyrgios says or does something brilliant or silly on a Tennis Court.
A "Tennis Racquet" is a piece of sporting equipment used to play tennis with.
A "Tennis Racket" is the noise the crowd makes when Nick Kyrgios says or does something brilliant or silly on a Tennis Court.
kailash
Hall of Fame
It is fine as long as it is not a rocket
D
Deleted member 756514
Guest
You are spot on. In India, racquet is used to denote a sporting equipment, while racket is used as in 'drug racket', 'sex racket' etc.
Wikipedia is not a source of refined truth to begin with.
We are talking about a Tennis Racket ... the stick you hit with. Yes there are all sorts of definitions and additional meanings, "a drug racket", "banging those pots makes a horrible racket... " We are also talking about the English Language, Merriam Webster, Oxford, Collins & Chambers should round this out just fine being published out of the UK, Glasgow, London, and the Good Ole USofA. Outside of these, I am not really sure what you mean by saying UK dictionaries... they are all English dictionaries.
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/racket
https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/racket the Oxford dictionary is published in the UK and prefers Racket in regards to Tennis Racket.
https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/tennis-racket
https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/racquet This source compares common usage in America and Britain ... Again "Racquet" is a variant spelling of "Racket" ... I have not found in any dictionary "Racket" as a variant of "Racquet".
https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/racket -
racket in British 2
or racquet (ˈrækɪt )
noun
1. a bat consisting of an open network of nylon or other strings stretched in an oval frame with a handle, used to strike the ball in tennis, badminton, etc
2. a snowshoe shaped like a tennis racket
https://chambers.co.uk/search/?query=racket&title=21st
Search results for 'racquet':
racket1 or racquet noun 1 a bat with a handle ending in a roughly oval head, made of a frame of wood, metal or other material, with a network of strings (originally catgut, now usually a synthetic material), used for playing tennis, badminton, squash, etc. 2 a snow-shoe of similar shape.
ETYMOLOGY: 16c: from French raquette, from Arabic rahat palm of the hand.
Now ... to really get down to it - when speaking about tennis what other source should we consider but perhaps Wimbledon. If in the UK "racquet" is the preferred version we should see it all over the website... Well, let us take a look... I am curious, how about you?
When searching https://www.wimbledon.com/en_GB/search/index.html for the term Racquet there is ONE source -a video that I could not find in a quick visual search of the findings.
Interesting now lets type in Racket. ... Survey Says ...
Iconic images: Nick Kyrgios twirls his racket
A new series looking at some of Wimbledon's iconic photography
A day in the life: a racket-stringing machine
Putting the zing in the string - meet the team behind the perfect racket.
THU 02 JUL 2015 19:22 BST
A Magical Racket Ride...
Wimbledon is delighted to be featured in a new children’s book which aims to inspire more young people to get involved in tennis.
WED 26 NOV 2014 16:06 GMT
Maria Sharapova lets her racket do the talking
In the past few days it has been Maria Sharapova’s actions off court that have kept her in the headlines. But on day one of The Championships it was time to get down to business.
125 rackets for 125 champions
When Church Road's historical experts calculated that 2011 would be the occasion of the Club's 125th Championships, the gauntlet for how best to celebrate such an occasion had Wimbledon's creative brains ruminating at length.
Now if we are going to use the UK as a measuring stick for the English language and we are to use the Wimbledon organization as an expert source on tennis as the oldest tennis tournament in the world... It appears that the editors of the Wimbledon home page agree that it is indeed a Racket.
Not sure who else to consult when speaking about the English preference of the term; seems like the Brits would have corrected this if this was not the preferred use.
Again if we are talking English ... and we are talking Tennis ... what else really is there to say. Well unless you are from India.
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Karma Tennis
Legend
You like raqueto and I like rackahto
You like raquetto and I like rackahto
Racqueto, rackahto, raquetto, rackahto.
Let's call the whole thing off
You like raquetto and I like rackahto
Racqueto, rackahto, raquetto, rackahto.
Let's call the whole thing off
SystemicAnomaly
Bionic Poster
I had assumed you were using Wiki for your claim.
Curious. Where are you from and how long have you been playing tennis? Badminton? (BTW: as far as participation sports go, badminton easily surpasses tennis on the planet. As a participation sport, only futbol/soccer is more popular). Rackets or Racquets do apply to a number of sports other than tennis.
When I referred to "UK dictionaries", that reference was not my own. It is a reference to the way that various forums and such refer to their spell-check preferences. They often include a menu option where you can select between a "US dictionary" and a "UK dictionary"... again, their usage, not mine.
When I took up the sport of tennis 45+ years ago, the usage of "racquet" appeared to be much more common in print and elsewhere, even in North America, than it has been in the recent past ("the internet age"). If you go back even further in the 20th century you would see this even more so. Go back 200 or 300 years and you'll likely find that "racquet" was used almost exclusively in many, if not most, areas.
I've been on the TW forum since 2006 (and on badminton forums even longer). From posters outside of North America, "racquets" appears to be much more common in the thousands (and thousands) of posts that I've read here in the past 13+ years. (Even just take an look at the usages by posters from around the world in the 100+ posts in this thread). From US posters and other NA posters, "racket" is much more common.
While English dictionaries might support the point you attempt to make, common usage in the UK and various other parts appear to be quite a different thing. This may very well be changing as internet usages play a greater role in changing the English language.
It appears that you spent a fair amount of time looking for uses of the word "racket" with respect to various tennis references. I'm confident that you can spend an equal amount of time and easily find just as many articles or other references that use "racquet" instead. I suggest you start with the BBC and various British publications. I'll leave it to you to perform this exercise as I am starting to tire of this little "usage game".
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SystemicAnomaly
Bionic Poster
Interesting. I believe that 'racket' is also common in Sweden & Norway as well. As for Dutch, I've seen references to 'raket', 'tennisraket' and 'tennisracket' in addition to 'racket'. Which one is the most common in areas where Dutch is spoken?
http://www.logosdictionary.org/childrendictionary.php?action=result&code=5549486&lang=AF
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In reference to UK dictionaries - I just looked up a few of the most common dictionaries used in the UK and searched both Racket and Racquet, you can see in the references the searches for both words are in the URL. The honest fact is I searched racquet more frequently looking for opposition to what I was finding. Common usage is why in many of these sourced references racquet is listed as a variation of the word racket, never however the other way around. Over history it has changed the farther (or is it further) we get away from the origination of the word. We are not however speaking about what the correct spelling of the word was 100 years ago. In reference to both UK and American common use, this is also covered in the reference provided as the sources show both regions equally and they are labeled as such.
I clearly cannot speak towards your experience with the word, nor can I speak towards the thousands of people who see a word and regurgitate it. All I can do is look towards experts, frankly those who publish dictionaries I would think are experts. Then when looking for a common usage ... I suppose all the writers who are posting official articles for Wimbledon are also getting it wrong?? I was not searching to prove my point, I was searching to prove your point originally and expected to find the articles on the Wimbledon home page to support your view - they just didn't.
Yes the BBC search engine shows Racquet as commonly used towards Tennis, and only "Racquet sports" it is perfectly OK to use this spelling. I went to the Wimbledon site to cut right to the people who live the sport. My error... but even tennis industry experts do not agree - Wilson sells Rackets, Babalot sells Rackets, Yonex sells Racquets, Head Sells Racquets - TW Europe calls them Rackets, TW US calls them Racquets ... it goes on and on.
"Racquet" is listed as a perfectly fine way to refer to our subject ... it is, however, a variation or frequently accepted spelling of the way the word "Racket" is spelled. If trying to be clear and avoid any confusion one might as well say... "Stop that tennis racquet" or "Stop that tennis racket" depending on their intent. This is likely why it has been adopted by so many users of the word and why there are so many casual uses.
You have done a great job at arguing your point, of detailing your knowledge base and defining yourself as an expert, no doubt you are. That's not a chide. I just cannot find a way to completely agree that in its pure form that Tennis Racquet is more correct then Tennis Racket. I can however completely agree that both are acceptable and both are commonly used.
But I agree with you this is very tiring...Enough with this Racket.
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asifallasleep
Hall of Fame
Some would say it's quite a racket that all these racquet companies are able to continually convince you that you need a new racquet. Let's play how many times can you use racquet and racket in a single sentence.
GregSV
Semi-Pro
‘Racquet’ and ‘raket’ are both archaic forms. Common nowadays is ‘racket’ or ‘tennisracket’ (one word). Actually, ‘raket’ would be seen as a misspelling, as a ‘raket’ is the word for ‘rocket’ (as in missile).
On a sidenote, in Belgium some Flemish commentators use the word ‘spelletje’ for ‘game’ (in NL we say ‘game’ like you). ‘Spelletje’ is a diminutive of ‘spel’ (= game), so: ‘little game’. Which sounds endearing to my ears.
Verstuurd vanaf mijn moto g(6) plus met Tapatalk
It is not pretentious.
Racquetball is spelled racquetball.
https://www.teamusa.org/usa-racquetball
My first impression is that racket is the phonetic spelling of racquet. Which is the origin of spellings, phonetically.
https://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/index.php?threads/ask-a-question-or-axe-one.595543/post-13284731
Try this for tiring.
https://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/index.php?threads/ask-a-question-or-axe-one.595543/post-11458572
It is not tiring. It is a very good question. Bible writers. To write the KJV Bible, scholars have to look at sources. Some sources are more original, some are more copies. How can you distinguish between the original and the copy? There's a science behind that.
Think:
is racket the phonetic spelling of racquet?
or
is racquet the phonetic spelling of racket?
Logically the less sophisticated came from the more sophisticated.
Which is the original?
Colour or color? You can tell.
Pattycake or pat a cake?
the proof is in the pudding or the proof of the pudding is in the eating?
It is very important to know which is the original and which is the copy. If not, I have a couple of "Chanel" purses (fakes) to sell you.
Japanese people do not know that the movie Ran is a re-telling of King Lear, and the Throne of Blood is a re-telling of Macbeth. They would tell you "You have see Ran in the original Japanese!"
SystemicAnomaly
Bionic Poster
Made that post in jest. U took my response way too seriously.
Good idea. Already implemented in ballet centuries ago. Ballet terminology are in French in every ballet school in the world. So is cooking too to some extent. Fillet, marinade, saute.
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Jokes, jest, etc . . . always has an element of truth underneath.
Why is a person considered coming "off as a pretentious snob" if they say something one way and not the other way? What if that way is natural to them but you interpret it as "come off as a pretentious snob"?
I don't like the word archaic. It has a bad connotation. I prefer original forms. I prefer an original artwork over a re-interpretation.
Who wouldn't want to turn a chicken back into a dinosaur?
SystemicAnomaly
Bionic Poster
Au contraire. Too much typing for French. It appears to have even more redundant letters and silent letters than English. Could be one of the primary reasons English replaced French as the language of diplomacy.
Probably some better options out there. (Pls, not Mandarin). Let's embrace NewSpeak or Esperanto instead.
Hmm. I thought a little more. There is some truth to what you say. French the language itself is cerebral (cerebral is a French word). Contrast it to German, it's more blood and guts (blood and guts are German words). English is a fine blend of German and French. But England English is too Germanic. American English is more balanced between German and French. The USA is not 1 State, it's 50 States compared to 1 country France.
I think the size of America, and American English is what makes it more universal. Remember, at one time, French was the #1 language in the world. Spanish is now #2, but it was never #1. French was the former world champion. "World champion". Perfect American English. World: German, Champion: French.
It annoys me to no end when I watch French movies. They never translate "entre" as "enter". They always translate it as "come in".
SystemicAnomaly
Bionic Poster
Poisoned Slice
Bionic Poster
Racquet
SystemicAnomaly
Bionic Poster
SystemicAnomaly
Bionic Poster
Google Translate feels your pain. Their translation of 'Entrez le Dragon' should put your mind at ease.
Would that be tenispelota in Spanish?
My other favorit raket sport, in English, would be badmintonshuttlecock. Aka badmintonbirdie.
Google translation is not artificial intelligence.
It is mimetic.
Real people translate them and Google collects those translation and use the most popular translations. Google Translate is incredibly mimetic, just like the Terminator in Terminator 2: Judgement Day. It's even mimics real world knowledge. It once Translated "The Enlightenment" as a historical period, and not "The Shining", "The Brightness" or something like that.
For example: Gone with the Wind is translated into Vietnamese as Roll with the Direction of the Wind, which is correct. And not something like Went with the Wind, or Travel with the Wind. It captures a human translation and use it. It does not translate literally.
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Watch how mimetic Google Translate is. From French to English
Entrez - Come in.
Entrez le Dragon - Enter the Dragon.
https://translate.google.com/
Entrez - Come in.
Entrez le Dragon - Enter the Dragon.
https://translate.google.com/
Computers never put me at ease. I've played chess with computers since the Commodore 64.
Watch how mimetic and smooth this is.
Watch how Sara Connor intelligently figures out who is the fake because the Terminator was "over acting", trying to be more emotional, more human than human in Terminator Genisys (by the way, that is an Ebonics spelling of Genesis.)
https://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/index.php?threads/ask-a-question-or-axe-one.595543/post-13296568
I'm at work, I'll tell you a great story when I get home.
SystemicAnomaly
Bionic Poster
@LGQ7
Since you've played chess for so long against the Machines, perhaps you're ready to take on Watson in a spirited game of Jeopardy!. Or maybe debate IBM's 'Project Debater'. This AI project can't yet best an accomplished human debater but it is still quite impressive.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Debater
Fearing the Rise of the Machines?
Since you've played chess for so long against the Machines, perhaps you're ready to take on Watson in a spirited game of Jeopardy!. Or maybe debate IBM's 'Project Debater'. This AI project can't yet best an accomplished human debater but it is still quite impressive.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Debater
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5sets
Hall of Fame
Sanglier
Professional
Both Gianni Clerici and Malcolm Whitman cited Chaucer's sentence "But canstow playen racket to and fro", written more than 630 years ago, as the earliest English reference to a racquet used in a game. Shakespeare also used this spelling in his writings. Even Major Wingfield, who is credited with the invention of lawn tennis in 1874, drew his inspiration from the game of "rackets", and advised the use of "racket press" to protect his "bats". So "racquet" is not even the original English spelling.
Nevertheless, I much prefer to be a racqueteer on a court rather than a racketeer in a court.
Nevertheless, I much prefer to be a racqueteer on a court rather than a racketeer in a court.
Again I would call it the original form.
Communist Chinese (that's how I call it instead of Simplified Chinese) is stupid and ugly.
Take a simple word, I learned on the chess board when I was a kid in Vietnam.
chariot
車
Communist Chinese
车
Does that look like a glyph of a chariot from an aerial view?
There are whole countries that use the Original Characaters (Communist China calls them Traditional Characters), in fact all countries outside of China use the Original glyphs.
original English has no meaning. The origin of half of the English words is from France.
That makes just as much sense as "the original Klingon".
https://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/index.php?threads/is-it-racket-or-racquet.562237/post-13299513
