chalk?

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NateDawgUM

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Maybe I live under a rock, but what the hell is up with the word chalk being used to describe favorites this season?

I've been watching the tournament for the better half of two decades, and I've never heard the word chalk used that way, and now it's EVERYWHERE.

And I know I'm not the only one noticing this.

I'm not a fan.
 

In Wagering Parlance

When all, or most, of the favorites win or are winning - it is referred to as "chalk".

In other words, the absence of upsets.
 

I figured that out as I have reading comprehension and can utilize context clues.

My question is, where did it come from? I've never heard it before this year.
 

NateDawgUM said:
Maybe I live under a rock, but what the hell is up with the word chalk being used to describe favorites this season?

I've been watching the tournament for the better half of two decades, and I've never heard the word chalk used that way, and now it's EVERYWHERE.

And I know I'm not the only one noticing this.

I'm not a fan.
Click to expand...

Before there were electronic tote boards, racing odds were posted on a chalkboard. The favorite was underlined in chalk, hence the term "chalk" for favorites.

It's a horse betting term from way back when Minnesota was a Territory not a State.
 

You're not the only N-Dawg

I just heard this several times today on ESPN radio. They then proceeded to discuss the use of the term "war" in recent tourney talk as well. The meanings become clear but the reasons behind the excessive use is unknown to me. Purhaps the talking heads are just looking for more new ways to say the same thing and then people pick it up quickly.
 


When I was a PUP, many years ago, a "chalk-talk" was the only way we could draw up game plans, a team meeting, in a classroom, with chalkboard and chalk.... we had nothing else.
 

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