The Los Angeles Dodgers Were Named After Trams
A dodger avoids something skilfully. The baseball team's name came from Brooklyn pedestrians dodging streetcars.
A dodger is someone who avoids something by quick movement or cunning. The baseball team carries a strange fossil: Brooklyn was so crossed by streetcar lines that its residents were nicknamed *trolley dodgers*, and the team took the name. When the club moved to Los Angeles in 1958, a joke about Brooklyn trams travelled three thousand miles with it.
- Someone who avoids. *A tax dodger.*
- To avoid quickly. *Dodge the ball.*
- An evasion. *A clever dodge.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Noun | dodger | A draft dodger. |
| Plural | dodgers | Fare dodgers. |
| Verb | dodge | Dodge the question. |
| Adjective | dodgy | A dodgy deal. |
| Related | evade | Evade capture. |
How it is used in a sentence
- He dodged the question.Avoided answering.
- That looks a bit dodgy.British: suspicious or unreliable.
- The Dodgers were named for trolley dodgers.Brooklyn, before 1958.
Kinds of dodger
- Tax dodger — one avoiding tax, often illegally
- Fare dodger — one travelling without paying
- Draft dodger — one avoiding military conscription
- Artful Dodger — the pickpocket in Oliver Twist
- Dodgy — British for suspect or unreliable
From *dodge*, of unknown origin, recorded from the sixteenth century. The Brooklyn nickname dates from the 1890s.
Why are the Dodgers called that?
From *trolley dodgers*, a nickname for Brooklyn residents navigating a city full of streetcar lines.
What does *dodgy* mean?
In British English, suspect, unreliable or slightly dishonest. It can describe a person, a deal or a piece of equipment.