Love, or nothing.....

Summer got me thinking about summer sports and one of the first things that came to mind was tennis. I can remember waaaaaayyyyy back in high school when I went to the state science fair in November or December the players always filled the fence with tennis balls in the shape of a Christmas tree! But really I started thinking about an Abercrombie bag from one summer, it read "Love or nothing."

According to the OED it seems to have been adapted from the phrase 'to play for love (of the game)' (that is, to play for nothing). Although the theory is often heard that it represents the French word l'oeuf an 'egg' (from the resemblance between an egg and a nought) this seems unlikely. In the beginning, both rackets and tennis scoring were used for lawn tennis. With rackets scoring, a game comprised 15 aces, which could be won only by the server who remained "hand in" until the loss of a rally. Tennis scoring was adopted for the first Wimbledon Championships in 1877 and became the standard. The origins of the 15, 30, 40 and so on are not known, but have medieval and French roots. One possible explanation is that the scoring system is based on the presence of a clock face at the end of the tennis court. A quarter move of the appropriate hand was made after each rest, with the score being called as 15, 30, or 45 as the case might be. As the hand was moved to 60, making the complete circuit, this was the game. The term "deuce" is derived from the French "deux", an advantage of two points having to be gained. "Love" is generally taken as being derived from the French "l"oeuf", the egg, symbolising nothing. The term "love" can also be said to come from the English phrase "neither for love nor for money", indicating nothing. (Taken from the book entitled The Guinness Book of Tennis Facts & Feats and Fifteen Love).