Billie Jean King
9
4.1
- proper noun
- /ˈbɪli dʒiːn kɪŋ/
- In the 1970s, Billie Jean King became famous after her historic tennis match against Bobby Riggs.
Examples
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Billie Jean King played her own game, resting up, being non-communicative... ...but preparing herself mentally and emotionally and physically... ...for a stunning performance against Bobby Riggs.
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I didn't learn until later that Billie Jean King (née Moffitt) was a feminist pioneer, a giant not just in the world of tennis, but in life.
Blog text (24) -
Look at how Billie Jean King has been running him over the court.
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Before I knew who Billie Jean King was, I knew she was a badass.
Blog text (24) -
Before I knew who Billie Jean King was, I knew she was a badass.
Blog text (24) -
Then 90 million people watched Billie Jean King hand old Bobby Riggs his ass.
Blog text (24) -
Then 90 million people watched Billie Jean King hand old Bobby Riggs his ass.
Blog text (24) -
Billie Jean King played her own game, resting up, being non-communicative... ...but preparing herself mentally and emotionally and physically... ...for a stunning performance against Bobby Riggs.
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I didn't learn until later that Billie Jean King (née Moffitt) was a feminist pioneer, a giant not just in the world of tennis, but in life.
Blog text (24) -
The impact of Billie Jean King on women's sports is unmatched.
Surface Forms
Morphology
Billie + Jean + King
This item is a proper name referring to a specific person (an American tennis player and activist), so its meaning is not built compositionally from the constituent words. Knowing 'Billie', 'Jean' and 'King' as individual words does not allow a B1 learner to infer the biographical or referential information, so the expression is unpredictable from its parts.
Etymology
Billie Jean King is a famous American tennis player who won many big titles and who beat Bobby Riggs in the 1973 'Battle of the Sexes'. That win and her long work for 'gender equality' made her a symbol of fairness and change in sport.