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Glite Dictionary
to bat for the other team

to bat for the other team

9.9
Support the other side or be gay
  • idiom
  • Slur
: ser maricón (OFENSIVO)
  • When John openly supported LGBTQ+ rights, it was clear he wasn't afraid to bat for the other team.

Examples

  • In the office politics, it was clear Sarah had decided to bat for the other team.

  • She really bats for the other team and is proud of it.

  • Many assumed he bat for the other team after he attended the parade with his boyfriend.

  • Some use the phrase 'to bat for the other team' when talking about someone’s sexuality.

  • Don't bat for the other team just to fit in!

  • After attending the Pride festival, many colleagues speculated that Mike might bat for the other team.

  • Some people believe it's unnecessary to ask if someone bats for the other team when discussing sexual orientation.

How Loyal

champion
156 3.7
to support
∞ 1.0
to take sides
39 3.1
to oppose
∞ 2.9
to bat for the other team
  • Slur
9.9

Surface Forms

bat for the other team infinitive
batted for the other team past
batted for the other team past participle
batting for the other team present participle
bats for the other team third person singular

Morphology

bat + for + the + other + team

Knowing 'bat', 'for', 'the', 'other', and 'team' does not allow a learner to infer the idiomatic meaning 'support a rival group' or the slang sense 'be gay'—the literal parts suggest belonging to a different sports side but do not predict the social/sexual senses. The phrase is culturally specific, idiomatic and slangy, so its meaning is not compositional or reliably deducible for a B1 learner.

Etymology

Bat for the other team may come from baseball: imagine a player with a bat who suddenly starts helping the other team. That clear image explains why the phrase can mean 'to support a rival group' and why people also used it as a quiet way to say someone is 'gay'.