Upset
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Look up upset in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. |
An upset occurs in a competition, frequently in electoral politics or sports, when the party popularly expected to win (the favorite), is defeated by an underdog whom the majority expects to lose, defying the conventional wisdom. The underdog then becomes a giant-killer.
The meaning of the word has popularly been attributed to the surprising defeat of the horse Man o' War by the horse Upset (the loss was the only one in Man o' War's career, though Man o' War later defeated Upset), though the term pre-dates that 1919 race.
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[edit] Origin
In 2002, George Thompson, a lexicographic researcher, used the full-text online search capabilities of the New York Times databases to trace the usage of the verb to upset and the noun upset. The latter was seen in usage as early as 1877.[1] Thompson's research debunked one popular theory of the term's origin, namely that it was first used after the Thoroughbred racehorse Upset became the only horse to defeat the legendary Man o' War in 1919.
The meaning of the word "upset" has long included "an overthrowing or overturn of ideas, plans, etc." (see OED definition 6b), from which the sports definition almost surely derived. "Upset" also once referred to "a curved part of a bridle-bit, fitting over the tongue of the horse," and though the modern sports meaning of "upset" was first used far more for horse races than for any other competition, there is no evidence of a connection. The name of the horse "Upset" came from the "trouble" or "distress" meaning of word (as shown by the parallelism of the name of Upset's stablemate, Regret).
[edit] Examples of upsets
- In the United States presidential election, 1948, incumbent President Harry Truman was widely expected to lose to Thomas Dewey. The New York Times declared the election was a "foregone conclusion" and a Gallup poll gave Truman's approval rating as just 36%. Truman's campaign was further weakened by a three-way split in the party, with Democrats Henry Wallace and Strom Thurmond both running their own presidential campaigns in protest of Truman's policies.[2][3] In response, Truman launched a frantic and energetic campaign, touring the country where he criticised both Dewey and the Republican-controlled Congress, which he dubbed the "Do Nothing Congress". Since pollsters stopped taking polls two months before the election, they failed to notice a dramatic shift of votes towards Truman. In the election, Truman defeated Dewey by a margin of 5% and won a majority in the electoral college.
- In 1998 Super Bowl XXXII - The Denver Broncos surprised the heavily-favored defending Super Bowl champion Green Bay Packers, 31–24, on a 1-yard touchdown run by game MVP Terrell Davis with 1:45 to play. The win was the first by an AFC team in 14 years and the first for Denver in five Super Bowl appearances.[citation needed]
- In 1913 U.S. Open - Francis Ouimet, a 20-year-old American amateur, defeated golf superstars Ted Ray and Harry Vardon.[citation needed]
