With the shrill American football season upon us, I looked into the word punt, which, it turns out, is quite old and surprisingly malleable. Depending on the year and location, it can mean a bridge, a flat-bottomed boat, to propel a flat-bottomed boat with a pike, a bloke who bets a lot, a particular kind of football player, a prostitute’s customer, a pub regular, to head-butt somebody and to go to Plan B. There’s even a connect to the Pope in Rome. It’s not unusual for ancient words to take on different meanings over time, but even so, punt’s got a lot going on. Here’s the story.
© 2024 John Oliver
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