wrong 'un
- noun
- Jargon
:
googly
- The bowler surprised the batsman with a wrong 'un that clipped the off stump.
Examples
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Commentators praised her skill in bowling a perfect wrong 'un during the final over.
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The bowler surprised the batsman with a wrong 'un that spun unexpectedly in the opposite direction.
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He struggled to pick the wrong 'un from the bowler's usual deliveries.
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The bowler surprised everyone with a perfect wrong 'un.
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Did you see that wrong 'un he bowled?
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He struggled to read the wrong 'un, which deceived him just as it was meant to.
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Commentators highlighted the moment when he bowled a remarkable wrong 'un that left the crowd in awe.
Synonyms
7
9.6
A cricket ball bowled with spin that looks like it will turn one way but turns the other
A cricket ball bowled to spin the other way and fool the batsman
A cricket ball that seems to turn one way but turns the other
A cricket ball bowled to look like it will turn one way but turns the other
Surface Forms
Morphology
wrong + 'un
The phrase is a dialectal contraction ('un = one), so in principle 'wrong' + 'one' yields 'wrong one' = a bad/person; however the specific colloquial sense 'a dishonest or untrustworthy person' is an informal, lexicalized extension and the clitic 'un is nonstandard and may not be recognized by learners. Because the meaning is partly derivable from 'wrong' but requires exposure to the contracted form and the colloquial sense, it is only partially transparent.
Etymology
Wrong 'un in cricket is short for wrong 'un, from the phrase 'wrong one'; it may come from bowlers who make a ball look like a normal leg-spin but make it turn the 'wrong' way and surprise the batter. That's why it means a delivery that spins in the opposite direction.