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Glossary entry

English term or phrase:

cover all the bases

English answer:

To be cautious and cover all possibilities in a given situation or plan or endeavor.

Added to glossary by Jenni Lukac (X)
Jul 20, 2009 14:46
14 yrs ago
24 viewers *
English term

cover all the bases

English Art/Literary Idioms / Maxims / Sayings
For American users.

I've found contradictory definitions and explanations of the roots for this idiom.
Comes from baseball, OK, but from which moment in baseball:
Free Dictionary
cover all the bases (American & Australian) also touch all the bases (American)
to deal with every part of a situation or activity It's a pretty full report. I think we've covered all the bases.
cover all the bases
to deal with every possibility Those movie awards cover all the bases - best villain, best fight, best kiss, best everything.
Both the above definitions from Cambridge dictionaries of American English
Then, sth else:
Cover all the bases (idea)
Return to Cover all the bases (idea)

An American idiom:
To be cautious and cover all possibilities in a given situation or plan or endeavor. To be aware of all consequences and be prepared for them as best as possible.

This phrase obviously has a baseball origin. It's a reference to the pitchers responsibility to make sure no one steals a base before his pitch. With bases loaded, he obviously has to keep an eye on all the bases.

the above from everything2.com, an American site as far as I can see

Another source:
The meaning of the english idiom Cover all the bases
If you cover all the bases, you deal with all aspects of a situation or issue, or anticipate all possibilities. (’Cover all bases’ is also used.)
I found a proposed Polish translation, and it's "protect oneself for all eventualities"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stolen_base
Touching the bases or keeping an eye on opponents who try to steal a base?
Doing sth conscientiously now or preparing conscientiously for the future?
So I'm interested in both the origin and the meaning.

literary
Responses
5 +8 To be cautious and cover all possibilities in a given situation or plan or endeavor. To be aware of
5 +3 leave nothing to chance
Change log

Jul 25, 2009 15:08: Jenni Lukac (X) changed "Edited KOG entry" from "<a href="/profile/141091">literary's</a> old entry - "cover all the bases"" to ""To be cautious and cover all possibilities in a given situation or plan or endeavor. To be aware of ""

Votes to reclassify question as PRO/non-PRO:

Non-PRO (2): writeaway, Jim Tucker (X)

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Discussion

literary (asker) Jul 21, 2009:
OK, touch all the bases So you imagine this situation in baseball.
Demi Ebrite Jul 20, 2009:
Touching bases and covering bases . . . I feel that all of the best possible explanations for the idiom 'cover all the bases' have been written by the experts who have contributed here, as well as your own research. The phrase 'touch all the bases' means to specifically go over, study, or mention every possible point or detail. But not necessarily in order. So many business coaches or managers (USA) use the language of sports, particularly baseball, to 'connect' an idea or get a point across in a way that their employees can personally relate to. So they think. As Tony mentioned, 'dropping the ball' makes no sense unless it is standard practice for sports terms to be used as analogies to business practices. If one 'drops the ball' it could mean a variety of things, from 'quitting' to 'slacking' to simply not following through on something, big or small. So, as Jim has said, these catch phrases (not to make a pun) are used in life and business all the time, and in baseball, rarely. Is there something you need here regarding baseball that is, like a 'pop-fly', going over our heads?
Jim Tucker (X) Jul 20, 2009:
comes from baseball - but it's not baseball talk.. ...at least not any more. This is much more commonly heard outside of baseball.
literary (asker) Jul 20, 2009:
These are two quite different situations from baseball
Depending on which one is meant, the figurative meaning will be somewhat different.
Tina Vonhof (X) Jul 20, 2009:
Question The expression is taken from baseball but you don't have to be an expert in baseball to understand what it means. You seem to have done extensive research and understand both the literal and figurative meaning of the expression. What question do you still have?
literary (asker) Jul 20, 2009:
I need someone fluent in baseball talk Because this boils down to those very specific baseball terms.

Responses

+8
39 mins
Selected

To be cautious and cover all possibilities in a given situation or plan or endeavor. To be aware of

Of all the entries you found this is the best general meaning of the term. I apologize for American writers who don't realize that outside of the Americas and Japan baseball metaphors don't mean a thing!
Note from asker:
"touch all the bases (American)" - meaning doing things one after another, in sequence, until sth is completed. Meanwhile the situation with a stolen base indicates being watchful above all.
But rather referring to the present or to the future?
Peer comment(s):
agree Tony M : Yes, and I think this is one US idiom that actually has travelled quite well (even is the rest of us don't actually know where it comes from!); but I don't see anything at all contradictory in the definitions cited by Asker.
2 mins
Cheers and Thanks Toni. "You are goal oriented and you never drop the ball!"
agree Richard McDorman
49 mins
Thanks Richard
agree Polangmar
1 hr
Thanks Polangmar
agree Tina Vonhof (X) : To asker: You prepare now for anything that may or may not happen in the future. The sequence is not important.
2 hrs
Thanks Tina
agree Jim Tucker (X) : Interesting thing is that it's not really used in baseball. (Might mean that there's a fielder (defender) at every base; I doubt it means "touch all the bases" in a baseball context.)
3 hrs
Thanks Jim. This phrase is somehow easier than the expression "to drop the ball" that makes no sensehere in Europe at all...
agree Gary D
6 hrs
Greetings and Thanks
agree Demi Ebrite
7 hrs
Greetings and Thanks
agree George C.
17 hrs
Greetings and Thanks
Something went wrong...
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "Thanks"
+3
38 mins

leave nothing to chance

cover all the bases => leave nothing to chance

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Note added at 19 hrs (2009-07-21 10:23:24 GMT)
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Idiom Definitions for 'Cover all the bases'
If you cover all the bases, you deal with all aspects of a situation or issue, or anticipate all possibilities. ('Cover all bases' is also used.)
http://www.usingenglish.com/reference/idioms/cover all the b...

cover all the bases (American & Australian) also touch all the bases (American)
to deal with every part of a situation or activity It's a pretty full report. I think we've covered all the bases.

Cambridge Idioms Dictionary, 2nd ed. Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2006. Reproduced with permission.
cover all the bases
to deal with every possibility Those movie awards cover all the bases - best villain, best fight, best kiss, best everything.
http://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/cover all the bases

Peer comment(s):
agree Tony M : Yes, sometimes indicates a degree of prudence, or sometimes just thoroughness.
3 mins
thank you
agree Tina Vonhof (X)
2 hrs
thank you
agree Jim Tucker (X)
3 hrs
thank you
Something went wrong...