Why is a tournament in which every contestant plays every other in succession called a "round-robin"?

You might assume the bird "robin" is somehow involved. In fact, "round-robin" has two possible derivations — one naughty and one nautical — and neither involves our red-breasted brethren.

"Round-robin" first came bob-bob-bobbing along during the mid-1500s. It's believed to have originally referred to some kind of toy or game. But in 1546 "round-robin" was recorded as a synonym for "jack-in-the-box," a street swindler who stole boxes full of money and replaced them with empty boxes. (Today we call a person who does this a "McMansion developer.")

"Jack," of course, has long been a generic term for any male. So some etymologists believe "round-robin," like "jack-in-the-box," also originated with a common name — "Robin" — and that the "round" in "round-robin" probably referred to the swindler's moving the boxes around.

OK. So the term "round-robin" might have been a term for a swindler. But how did it come to be associated with sports tournaments?

Fast-forward 200 years to the high seas during the early 1700s. Technology had progressed, and life was better — except if you were a British sailor living under the autocratic rule of a sea captain who flogged and hanged men for complaining about maggots in their bread.

So, while the captain was pressing limes for his daiquiri, these oppressed limeys hatched an idea. Let's toss the captain overboard! No, not that idea. Let's circulate a petition demanding maggot-free food, and while we're at it, food!

Ringleader: "Hey, mates, you know what we'll do? We won't sign our names as a list. Oh, no. We'll sign our names in a circular pattern so each signature looks like a spoke radiating from a hub. That way, the captain won't be able to tell who signed first, so he won't know who instigated the petition. He certainly can't hang us all. How could he sail the ship?"

Shipmate: "Uh, one problem there, Guv'nuh. None of us can write."

Anyway, the sailors called this kind of circular petition a "round-robin." Some historians believe they derived the name from the French term "rond ruban" (round ribbon), because the signatures seemed to have no beginning or end. But others claim the old salts named the petition for the old swindler "round-robin," because they were tricking the captain.

So, whether "round-robin" is derived from French or from fraud, it still makes the rounds today.

Rob Kyff, a teacher and writer in West Hartford, Connecticut, invites your language sightings. His new book, "Mark My Words," is available for $9.99 on Amazon.com. Send your reports of misuse and abuse, as well as examples of good writing, via e-mail to [email protected] or by regular mail to Rob Kyff, Creators Syndicate, 737 3rd Street, Hermosa Beach, CA 90254.

Photo credit: SidLitke at Pixabay