Why do we say ‘let’ in tennis?

There are many English terms in the tennis rules that are used with subtle meanings. ‘Let’ is one of them. Beginners who are not familiar with the rules may misinterpret let as ‘net’. If he declared it as Rhett, he would get caught in the net and tilt his head to see if he was saying that. This is because Rhett and Net have the same pronunciation. But Rhett and Net are distinctly different words. Let is a word that informs that the progress of the perfect play has been hindered due to an unexpected event. But the net is just a net.

According to the English glossary, ‘let’ is derived from the ancient Saxon word ‘lettian’, which means to disturb, and was used as a modern phrase from the 12th century through Old English ‘lettan’. It is said that it has been used as a tennis term since before the 1870s when tennis rules were made in England.

Another etymology of the tennis term ‘let’ is that it comes from the French ‘finet’, which has the same meaning as the English ‘net’. Considering that tennis came over from ‘Jeu de Paume’, a French aristocratic ball game, it makes sense. (See Episode 901 of this corner, ‘Why do we say ‘Tennis’?)

There are several cases in which let is applied in tennis rules. This is when the first ball touches the net and enters the opponent’s service court. Second, it is when it touches the receiver’s body, clothes, racket, etc. after brushing the net and before falling to the court floor. Third, when the serve is made when the receiver is not ready. In addition, when a ball bursts in an in-play situation, when a ball in play collides with a ball flying from another court, or when an animal such as a bird or dog enters the court in play. In this case, if a let is declared in the serve situation, the serve must be served again, and if a let is declared in any other situation, the point is replayed. The highest number of letts in an official match was in 2013 when Serena Williams made four consecutive service letts in her victory over Ayumi Morita. Originally, there is no limit on the number of Lets.

Once in the world tennis world, there were opinions to abolish let as the cute charm of playing tennis diminished as strong serve became a trend. This is because players who use strong serve with Let’s permission have a psychological advantage. However, the discussion that had been maintained for a long time continued as it was. Although the word lett is not often used in the Korean media, it occasionally appears in game articles 메이저사이트.