• DarkCloud@lemmy.world
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    5 months ago

    sticky wicket

    noun

    A difficult or embarrassing problem or situation. A pitch that has become wet because of rain and therefore on which the ball bounces unpredictably. A difficult or unpredictable situation.

    • Bob@feddit.nl
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      5 months ago

      Is this not commonly known? I used this expression just yesterday.

      • state_electrician@discuss.tchncs.de
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        5 months ago

        Well, there are people outside of the US, some of whom don’t even have English as their first language. A quick investigation into this leads me.to believe that there might even be more people outside the US than inside. Most of those people have never heard of a sticky wicket.

          • state_electrician@discuss.tchncs.de
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            5 months ago

            I just looked it up and apparently it comes from cricket, which of course is not an American sport. I just assumed it was American, because Gary Larson is an American.

            Ah, well. My original point that most people will never have heard of it still stands. And who doesn’t enjoy making fun of ignorant Americans? 😄

        • funkless_eck
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          5 months ago

          yes but lots of asian, middle eastern and antipodean people, famously, follow cricket.

        • Bob@feddit.nl
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          5 months ago

          I’ll thank you to stop insinuating that I’m American, and it’s so bleedingly obvious that I’m not talking about non-native speakers.

  • deadbeef79000@lemmy.nz
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    5 months ago

    Those aren’t wickets, at least not cricket wickets. Unless the hoops used in croquet are also called wickets.

    Though depicting a factory that produces an otherwise ordinary wooden pole would be a little more challenging to be unambiguous.