the "On the Ball" slogan.

[4thdimension]

On Sunday night non-cable T.V. tonight is an old Dean Martin /Jerry Lewis W.W.II farce. I'm not watching it much but, the last time I walked in the living room, the expression "on the ball" was used twice. I feel compelled to use a capital "B" but I'm resisting. My question is, if this expression is so nailed down in our vernacular. has Webb's surname made it as a new word in the O.E.D. or Webster's yet? It fits the criteria as I understand it.
-Cort

[4thdimension]

O.K., I answered my question. The word ball is not defined by either dictionary with this definition. I think it fits all the criteria of well understood and long term usage. It clearly deserves a place in the dictionary. Nobody at my pub knows why they say it but, they'll use the word ball in this particular context all the time.

I'll write the O.E.D. and see what they think.
-Cort

[4thdimension]

Well, This may not be news to the Oxford folks. I found one site that defined "ball", as in "on the ball"as "alert to new ideas methods, and trends". I haven't yet found the classic O.E.D. history of the the origen of "ball" when used this way. I have a person to contact regarding this. If anything interesting comes up I will report it.
-Cort

[Jerry Treiman]

My dictionary of "American Slang" (R.L. Chapman) attributes the origin of the expression to ball games where one must be alert and keep ones eye on the ball. Another source "Why You Say It" (W. Garrison) similarly attribute the expression to baseball references.

I had in the back of my mind that there might also be a reference to the time ball that was visible in harbors and dropped at noon to let the ships know the precise time - this use of "on the ball" meant (if I am correct) at the precise moment or on time. I think that the dropping ball in Times Square on New Years Eve also comes from the time ball.

[IMHO]

Here's yet another take on the baseball origin ... and pretty entertaining read too! (source: www.word-detective.com)

Great balls of time.

Dear Word Detective: Visiting Greenwich (UK) last week, I finally learned the source of the expression "to be on the ball." At the Greenwich Observatory, "where time begins," you'll find the international meridian line. On a tower, there is a spire, attached to which is a large red ball, kind of like the ball at Times Square on New Year's (they probably stole the idea from Greenwich). The ball slowly rises to the top of the spire, and then drops to the bottom on the hour. Ships on the Thames waiting to start their voyages could see the ball drop, and would set their clocks by it. To have your clocks set on meridian time, and to leave at the drop of the ball, is to be "on the ball." So being "on the ball" really means to be "on time," not "intelligent" or "alert." -- Kim.

Ha, I say. Ha! You only think those Greenwichians explained the origin of "on the ball." If I were a cynic, I'd suggest that "Look at that big red ball up there and listen to this nifty story" sounds like the prelude to a mass pocket-picking. But since you'd probably already emptied your wallet on Bobble-head Beefeaters and Princess Di refrigerator magnets, I'll assume that the spiel you heard was sincere, and just reiterate my opinion that many (not all, just many) tourist guides really ought to be teaching Fiction Writing 101.

I'm a big fan of the Greenwich Observatory and their time-keeping (I have a clock on my wall set to Coordinated Universal Time (UTC), which used to be called Greenwich Mean Time (GMT)), and the folks at Greenwich have indeed been dropping that red ball every day at 1 p.m. since 1833. There's actually another time ball at the U.S. Naval Observatory in Washington, D.C., and at one time San Francisco and Cincinnati, Ohio had their own time balls.

But all this ball-dropping has nothing to do with the origin of "on the ball," meaning "to be alert" or "to be prepared and in control of the situation." According to Paul Dickson's New Dickson's Baseball Dictionary, the phrase originated in the early 20th century U.S. in the sport of baseball, where a pitcher who dominated and successfully manipulated the opposing batters was said to "have" or "be putting" a lot "on the ball," possibly referring to spin or other sorts of sneaky pitcher tricks. From there the phrase migrated into general use and acquired its current sense of "able to handle whatever comes up."