Mickey Mantle

19 5.5

An American baseball player who was a famous hitter and center fielder for the New York Yankees

proper noun
/ˈmɪki ˈmæntəl/

: Mickey Mantle

Sports fans remember Mickey Mantle as one of the greatest hitters in baseball history.
Mickey Mantle and Berra

Examples

Many consider Mickey Mantle one of the greatest baseball players of all time.
A signed Mickey Mantle baseball card was recently sold for a record-breaking price.
Growing up, my grandfather idolized Mickey Mantle and watched every Yankees game he played.
Sports fans still debate whether Mickey Mantle was the greatest switch hitter of all time.
Did you know Mickey Mantle played for the New York Yankees?
Many young players dream of becoming like Mickey Mantle, the legendary Yankees center fielder.
The 1952 trading card of Mickey Mantle is one of the most valuable collectibles in baseball.

Surface Forms

Mickey Mantle main

Morphology

Mickey + Mantle

This is a proper name referring to a specific person (an American baseball player), so knowing the constituent tokens 'Mickey' and 'Mantle' does not allow a learner to infer that referent or his profession. Proper names are non-compositional and require world-knowledge or prior exposure rather than being derivable from their parts, so this is opaque to a B1 learner.

Etymology

Mickey Mantle was a famous American baseball player for the New York Yankees; picture a fast, powerful center fielder who could hit well from both the left and the right side. Because of this fame, his name now stands for top 'baseball' skill and is linked to rare, valuable 'collectibles'.