This post on the language of football explains the meanings of the verb ‘to clip‘, which can be used in connection with shots and passes. If you have questions or comments about this or any other phrase then email us at: admin@languagecaster.com.Football Language: (to) Clip
This weeka€™s football phrase is the verb a€˜to clipa€™, which has two main meanings in football. the first is a kind of pass, and we have dealt with this in a post from 2015. This describes a type of pass or shot that raises the ball slightly. Similar to chip. The ball is lifted by placing the foot under it and then moving it through the air. Usually the verb to clip links or collocates with the word shot, for example, the player clipped a shot over the bar, or pass, he clipped a pass over the defence to his team mate. The second meaning is to describe the ball hitting the woodwork – the posts or the crossbar – and missing the goal. So, a player shoots and the ball hits the outside of the woodwork and goes out for a corner – it clips the post or crossbar. Notice that the subject is the ball, the ball clips the post, not the player.
- Example: ‘Celtic came the closer to an opening goal when Christiea€™s 25-yard drive clipped the outside of a Lazio post.’ GuardianA match Report (Oct. 2019)
Here, the player’s drive, or shot, hit the post, clipped the outside of the post, and we can infer that Christie nearly scored.
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