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Charley horse

American colloquial term for muscle cramp

American colloquial term for muscle cramp

FieldValue
nameCharley horse
synonymsCharley, Charley-horse, charlie horse, leg cramp
fieldPhysiatry, Sports medicine, General practice, Primary care

Charley horse is an American colloquial term typically used to refer to a muscle cramp or stiffness, particularly those of the calf, foot, leg, or more rarely, the arm. Some may use the term interchangeably with the term dead leg or thigh contusion, referring to a contusion caused by a physical blow to the leg or thigh.

The term came into use in the setting of baseball in the United States in the 1880s, though its exact origin is uncertain.

Etymology

The first known written use of the term was in 1886 in the Boston Globe. The origination has been attributed to two baseball players, Jack Glasscock and Joe Quest. However, its exact origins are unknown.

References

Other references

References

  1. "Thigh Contusion: Symptoms, Treatment and Prevention".
  2. "charley horse, n. – Variant forms".
  3. "Charley horse". MedlinePlus.
  4. "Muscle Cramps". MedlinePlus.
  5. "Definition of CHARLEY HORSE".
  6. (2012). "Nocturnal Leg Cramps". American Family Physician.
  7. Quinion, Michael. (1999-03-13). "Charley horse".
  8. "Thigh contusion".
  9. (13 June 2011). "The Dickson Baseball Dictionary". W. W. Norton & Company.
  10. Quinion, Michael. (1999-03-13). "Charley horse".
  11. "Definition of CHARLEY HORSE".
  12. "charley horse, n. — Green's Dictionary of Slang".
  13. (8 August 2019). "Read This if You've Ever Wondered Why It's Called a 'Charley Horse'".
  14. (24 August 2010). "Origins of the Specious: Myths and Misconceptions of the English Language". Random House Publishing Group.
Info: Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

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