| 释义 |
▪ I. handicap, n.|ˈhændɪkæp|
[A word of obscure history. Two examples of the n., and one of the verb, are known in 17th c.; its connexion with horse-racing appears in the 18th; its transferred general use, esp. in the verb, since 1850. It appears to have originated in the phrase ‘hand i' cap’, or ‘hand in the cap’, with reference to the drawing mentioned in sense 1.]
1. The name of a kind of sport having an element of chance in it, in which one person challenged some article belonging to another, for which he offered something of his own in exchange. (Also fig.)
On the challenge being entertained, an umpire was chosen to decree the difference of value between the two articles, and all three parties deposited forfeit-money in a cap or hat. The umpire then pronounced his award as to the ‘boot’ or odds to be given with the inferior article, on hearing which the two other parties drew out full or empty hands to denote their acceptance or non-acceptance of the match in terms of the award. If the two were found to agree in holding the match either ‘on’ or ‘off’, the whole of the money deposited was taken by the umpire; but if not, by the party who was willing that the match should stand. (See Notes & Queries 23 June, 1855).
This sport is described under the name of Newe Faire, in Piers Plowman A. v. 171, B. v. 328, C. vii. 377, where ‘Clement þe cobelere caste of his cloke’, for which ‘Hikke þe hakeneyman’ wagered his hood, and ‘Robyn þe ropere’ was named for ‘a noumpere’, to ordain how much ‘who⁓so haueth the hood shuld haue amendes of the cloke’. For reference to a similar sport in Scandinavia and Germany (where called Freimarkt), see Germania XIX. (1847) 1, Engl. Stud. V. 150. A recent example occurs in R. S. Surtees ‘Mr. Sponge's Sporting Tour’ ch. xlv, in which the challenge is between a gold watch and a horse. In later times the result became the subject of further betting on the part of the bystanders: see The Sportsman 17 April 1897, 5/5.
a1653G. Daniel Idyl ii. 120 Ev'n those who now command, The inexorable Roman, were but what One step had given: Handy-Capps in Fate. 1660Pepys Diary 18 Sept., Here some of us fell to handicap, a sport that I never knew before, which was very good. 1832Mem. Sir J. Campbell I. xi. 300 Buying horses by what is called handy-cap; a kind of lottery, which everybody knows. 1852R. S. Surtees Sponge's Sp. Tour xlv.
2. Horse-racing. (orig. attrib.)
†a. handicap match: a match between two horses, the arrangement of which was made in accordance with the sport of handicap in 1, the umpire here decreeing the extra weight to be carried by the superior horse, and the parties drawing as in 1 to declare whether the match should be ‘on’ or ‘off’, with the same chances as to the forfeit-money. Obs.
(Such matches are recorded as early as 1680, but the term ‘handicap’ does not appear.)
1754Pond's Racing Calendar p. xxxii, Rules concerning Racing in general, with a Description of a Post and Handy-Cap Match..A Handy-Cap Match, if for A. B. and C. to put an equal Sum into a Hat, C, which is the HandyCapper, makes a Match for A. and B. which when perused by them, they put their Hands into their Pockets and draw them out closed, then they open them together, and if both have Money in their Hands, the Match is confirm'd; if neither have Money, it is no Match: In both Cases the Hand-Capper draws all the Money out of the Hat; but if one has Money in his Hand, and the other none, then it is no Match; and he that has the Money in his Hand is intitled to the Deposit in the Hat. If a Match is made without the Weight being mentioned, each Horse must carry ten Stone. [So in ‘Rules of Racing’ in Racing Calendar 1826, and Blaine Encycl. Rural Sports ed. 1832.]
b. handicap race (shortened handicap): a horse-race in which an umpire (the handicapper) decrees what weights have to be carried by the various horses entered, according to his judgement of their merits, in order to equalize their chances. So handicap plate, handicap sweepstakes, etc.
1786Pick Sportsman & Breeder's Vade Mecum I. 103 (Newmarket) Handicap Plate of 83 gs. for all ages. Two Middle Miles. Won by Mr. Fox's Balloon..13 others started. 1789–90Weatherby Racing Calendar 194 (Curragh, June Meeting) Handicap plate of 50 gs. from the Red Post home. Mr. Hamilton's King David, by High⁓flyer, 6 yrs. old, 8 st. 12 lb.; Mr B. Daly's Little Moll, 5 yrs. old, 6 st. 12 lb. [and 2 other horses]. 1793–4Ibid. 288 (Races to come: Bath.) The day after the Races, a Handicap Sweepstakes of 5 gs. each, for horses, etc, of all ages, two miles. The horses to be named to the Clerk of the Course by eight o'clock the evening before running, and the Stakes to be then paid. 1806Sporting Mag. XXVIII. 184 Six horses entered for a Handicap-plate of {pstlg}50. 1812Ibid. XXXIX. 99 Four or five of the greatest Handicaps, to be run for at Newmarket next Spring. 1856H. H. Dixon Post & Paddock iv. 75 The luckiest of handicaps was the Chester Cup of 1853, when 131 out of 216 horses accepted. Ibid. vii. 114 In these more degenerate days of light-weights and handicaps. 1858Jockey Club Rules 17 in Blaine Encycl. Rur. Sports (1870) 373/1 If a horse shall fraudulently run..The owner shall..return any sum..won in plates, matches, or sweepstakes (whether handicap or not), which the said horse may have won. Ibid. 39. 374/1 In all handicaps with twenty subscribers, when the highest weight accepting is under 8 st. 12 lb., it is to be raised to that weight..but in all minor handicaps and in two-year-old handicaps..the highest weight..is to be raised to 8 st. 7 lb. 1862Times 2 Jan., The most prolific source of mischief, perhaps, on the Turf, is the increase and magnitude of the handicaps. There is no beast so miserable, but that he may possibly succeed in a handicap. 187.Rules of Racing in J. Rice Hist. Brit. Turf (1879) II. 367 A ‘handicap’ is a race in which the weights which the horses are to carry are to be adjusted after the time limited for entering or naming, according to the handicapper's judgment of the merits of the horses, for the purpose of equalizing their chances of winning..A free handicap is one in which no liability for stake or forfeit is incurred until acceptance, and no entry need be made.
3. Any race or competition in which the chances of the competitors are sought to be equalized by giving an advantage to the less efficient or imposing a disadvantage upon the more efficient.
Besides the method of weighting, as in 2, this may be done in various ways, according to the nature of the game, as by requiring the superior competitor to accomplish a greater distance (i.e. giving a start to the inferior), to do it in a shorter time, to play with fewer men or pieces, etc.
1875J. D. Heath Croquet Player 87 There is a variety called Time Handicaps, in which, if the game be not concluded at the expiration of a given time, the player who is ahead wins. 1895Badminton Libr., Billards 439 No two men should play in the same handicap when one can give the other much more than a third of the game.
4. The extra weight or other condition imposed on a superior in favour of an inferior competitor in any athletic or other match; hence, any encumbrance or disability that weighs upon effort and makes success more difficult.
1883E. Pennell-Elmhirst Cream Leicestersh. 153 Two minutes at such a time is..a heavy handicap on the efforts of hounds. 1890Pall Mall G. 25 June 1/3 The president..will not be called upon for an address, as this is felt to be a severe tax upon the person and a handicap on the post. Ibid., His broken wing is a heavy handicap to him, and his chances against fox and stoat are now reduced to a minimum. 1894H. H. Gibbs Colloquy on Currency 231 If other nations are injured by the absence of that advantage, what is to prevent them from altering their laws, throwing off the handicap, and riding with equal weights?
5. (See quot.)
1868Brewer Phr. & Fable, Handicap, a game at cards not unlike Loo, but with this difference—the winner of one trick has to put in a double stake, the winner of two tricks a triple stake, and so on. Thus: if six persons are playing, and the general stake is 1s., and A gains three tricks, he gains 6s., and has to ‘hand i' the cap’ or pool, 3s. for the next deal. Suppose A gains two tricks and B one, then A gains 4s. and B 2s., and A has to stake 3s. and B 2s. for the next deal. [No confirmation has been found.]
6. attrib., as handicap match, handicap plate, handicap prize, handicap race.
1754, etc. Handicap-match, -plate [see 2]. 1856H. H. Dixon Post & Paddock x. 175 At York about 10,000 [cards] are sold on the Handicap day. 1897Whitaker's Alm. 633/2 The A.A.A. rules fixed a limit of ten guineas for handicap prizes [in foot races]. Ibid. 649/2 The Hester..was more successful in handicap matches, winning 5 firsts and 4 seconds.
▪ II. ˈhandicap, v.
[f. prec. n., or of same origin.]
†1. trans. To draw or gain as in a game of chance. Obs. rare.
1649G. Daniel Trinarch., Hen. V, xcviii, The Treasurer..for a price Mercates his Maister to extend his purse: And handy-capps some Crownes: may the boot rise To the boot worthy.
2. intr. To engage or take part in a handicap match (see handicap n. 2).
1839Blackw. Mag. XLV. 353, I need not explain..the art and mystery to give and take the long odds knowingly, to make a ‘book’, to ‘handicap’, and to ‘hedge’. 1856Lever Martins of Cro'M. 36 He had mingled in turf experiences..and betted and handicapped with men of fortune.
3. a. trans. To equalize the parties to a handicap, by decreeing the ‘odds’ to be given.
1852R. S. Surtees Sponge's Sp. Tour xliv, ‘Who shall handicap us? Captain Guano, Mr. Lumpleg, or who?’..‘Name me arbitrator’, muttered Jack.
b. fig. To equalize the chances of competing or contrasted things.
1865Daily Tel. 17 Oct. 5/3 You can't handicap Paris and London as to vice..Paris can still give two stone of iniquity.
4. trans. To weight race-horses in proportion to their known or assumed powers, in order to equalize their chances.
1856H. H. Dixon Post & Paddock xii. 198 The present system of handicapping we believe to be vicious in the extreme; and our impression of a true English handicap is, that no horse should carry more than 9st. 9lbs., or less than 5st. 5lbs. 18..View Eng. Racer & Saddle Horse in Youatt's Horse iv. (1872) 74 Four horses were handicapped by Dr. Bellyse at Newcastle-under-Lyne. 1881E. D. Brickwood in Encycl. Brit. XII. 202/2 When well-known winners entered for a race, other competitors withdrew, and sport was spoiled. A remedy was devised in handicapping, that is, apportioning a table of weights to the competitors..in proportion to their known or assumed demerits.
5. trans. To weight, hamper, or otherwise ‘penalize’ a superior competitor in any match or contest, so as to reduce his chances in favour of inferior competitors. More generally, To place any one at a disadvantage by the imposition of any embarrassment, impediment, or disability; to weight unduly.
1864Reader 9 July 57 He is handicapped with the weight of his own reputation. 1865Sat. Rev. 4 Feb. 132/2 A man of real mathematical ability must be very heavily handicapped to allow competitors of inferior talent to meet him with any chance of success. 1868Pall Mall G. 23 July 3 Not only are our crack shots, our best billiard players, our fleetest runners, and our grandest racehorses handicapped to let the worthless have a chance for the prizes, but even statesmen, clergymen, and soldiers are managed similarly. 1868Rogers Pol. Econ. xxii. (1876) 298 If the law handicaps one kind of labour and so hinders its employment. 1880Standard 15 Dec., The British farmer is so severly handicapped that he cannot possibly compete with the American farmer. 1884Lillywhite's Cricket Annual 1 They were handicapped in their out-play by the absence of their best bowler. 1885Times (weekly ed.) 6 Nov. 7/3 A high expenditure and heavy taxation handicaps a country. 1887Jessopp Arcady i. 6 The inevitable something which handicaps any one who comes as a stranger into the parish. 1894H. H. Gibbs Colloquy on Currency 231, I thought..our system..much to our advantage, and that other nations not enjoying it were handicapped in the race.
Hence ˈhandicapping vbl. n. and ppl. a.; ˈhandicapped ppl. a., of persons, esp. children, physically or mentally defective. Also absol. as n.
1856H. H. Dixon Post & Paddock ii. 46 Dr. Bellyse, whose love of handicapping and cock-fighting was so [great]. 1889W. T. Linskill Golf iii. (1895) 15 Another form of odds is ‘so many holes up’. This is handicapping by holes and not by strokes. 1915L. D. Wald House on Henry St. 117 (caption) The Handicapped Child. 1919School & Society 29 Aug. 256/2 There are, of course, other types of mentally handicapped children who should be sharply differentiated. 1942Q. Jrnl. Speech Feb. 81/1 The child who is still babbling, lisping, stuttering..at thirty-six months of age is just as handicapped..as the child with a misshapen back. 1958Times Lit. Suppl. 21 Nov. p. xiii/2 The approach is strictly a practical one and even extends to the needs of handicapped children. 1958P. Townsend in N. Mackenzie et al. Conviction 118 The handicapped..still are treated too often as second-class citizens. 1959Housewife June 33 Chronically sick or handicapped people. |