the.com/gridiron
A field named for what it looks like after lunch, not war strategy.
means A football field—or, originally, a metal grate used for grilling food over an open flame.
from From Middle English 'gridiron,' a cooking grate of parallel metal bars for broiling meat or fish over fire. The gridlike pattern of yard lines painted across an American football field reminded people of those parallel bars, and by the late 1800s 'gridiron' had become slang for the field itself—so the metaphor runs through a kitchen, not a battlefield.
- name origin
- Lines resembled a cooking grate, not a battlefield
- total length
- 120 yards including both end zones
- old shape
- Lacked hash marks until forward passes made them necessary
- slang scope
- Also nicknames American football the sport itself