Tinker to Evers to Chance
- idiom
- Informal
:
Tinker a Evers a Chance
- The final out was made on a Tinker to Evers to Chance double play, thrilling the crowd.
Examples
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Their smoothly coordinated effort was described as a real Tinker to Evers to Chance moment in business circles.
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Sportswriters often invoke Tinker to Evers to Chance when talking about flawless teamwork.
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The team's defense was as smooth as Tinker to Evers to Chance.
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Can you believe they executed that play like Tinker to Evers to Chance?
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Sportswriters often invoke Tinker to Evers to Chance to illustrate flawless teamwork in both baseball and other contexts.
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The final out was made on a Tinker to Evers to Chance double play, which left the fans cheering with excitement.
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In the meeting, their collaboration was so seamless that it felt like a real Tinker to Evers to Chance moment.
Synonyms
14
3.0
A baseball play that gets two players out in one move
Surface Forms
Morphology
Tinker + to + Evers + to + Chance
This is a fixed proper-name allusion to a specific baseball double-play trio; the literal constituents (personal names and the preposition 'to') give no semantic cue to 'flawless teamwork' or a perfectly executed sequence. Understanding the phrase requires cultural/historical knowledge of the players or exposure to the idiom, so a B1 learner who only knows the words would not be able to derive the meaning.
Etymology
Tinker to Evers to Chance comes from baseball, where the three infielders Tinker, Evers, and Chance would quickly throw the ball in a perfect sequence to get two players out in one play. So, the phrase now means 'flawless teamwork' or a perfectly executed series of actions.