Say Hey Kid
3
9.4
- proper noun
:
Say Hey Kid
- This year's parade route is different from what it was in 2010, when a vehicle carrying the "Say Hey Kid" Willie Mays led players and coaches in open-air buses designed to look like cable cars down the same route that Mays did.
Examples
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Mick just posted, then looked down at my plate to eat a bite, thinking of how I'm showing my relatives up here on Cape Cod each morning a different way we win—Keystone Kops one night, Say Hey the next.
Blog text (5) -
Willie Mays, famously known as the Say Hey Kid, is celebrated for his incredible talent on the baseball field.
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Gonna say hey to her.
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Then I look up and see your post about "Say Hey."
Blog text (5) -
I say, hey, don't worry, just start again tomorrow.
Blog text (24) -
You find it and keep it ♪ 'Cause it ain't every day you get the chance to say Hey!
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I wanted to say, hey—my time is important too.
Blog text (24) -
To defend the new Mac ads by saying "Hey, they're not aimed at you" is just a naive view of advertising.
Blog text (14) -
The Say Hey Kid hit 660 home runs during his legendary career, making him one of the greatest players in baseball history.
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As a tribute, fans honored the Say Hey Kid with a special ceremony to celebrate his contributions to the sport.
Synonyms
1
5.6
A famous American baseball player known as one of the greatest in the sport
Surface Forms
Morphology
Although the words 'say', 'hey', and 'kid' are individually transparent, their combination as 'Say Hey Kid' is an arbitrary, culturally-specific nickname for Willie Mays; a B1 learner who knows the constituents would not be able to infer that referent or the nickname function. The expression functions as a proper name requiring historical/cultural knowledge rather than compositional meaning, so it is not derivable from its parts.
Etymology
Say Hey Kid comes from Willie Mays's friendly habit of saying Say Hey to people when he started playing. Teammates added Kid because he was young, so that cheerful greeting became his 'nickname' and now refers to the famous baseball player.