get the ball rolling
get the ball rolling (idiom, metaphor)
/ɡɛt ðə bɔːl ˈrəʊ.lɪŋ/
Variants
- start the ball rolling
- set the ball rolling
- keep the ball rolling
Meanings
- To start an activity or process.
- To make something begin so others can continue.
- To take the first step in a project or discussion.
Synonyms: start; initiate; commence; launch; begin; trigger.
Example Sentences
- The manager decided to get the ball rolling by presenting the first proposal.
- She cracked a joke to get the ball rolling and make everyone comfortable.
- He volunteered to speak first to get the ball rolling in the debate.
- The teacher asked a simple question to start the ball rolling in the classroom discussion.
- The charity event was opened with a short speech to set the ball rolling for the evening’s activities.
- The group leader encouraged members to share ideas to keep the ball rolling during the meeting.
Origin and History
Several theories explain how “get the ball rolling” entered English. One is a sporting origin, connected to traditional games in which a ball is rolled to begin play, such as bowls, croquet, or early forms of golf. These games contributed many metaphors to English, and beginning play by rolling a ball naturally became associated with initiating action.
Another explanation is a mechanical or metaphorical origin, in which the image of rolling a ball represents momentum and progress. This reading does not tie the phrase to a specific sport but instead to the general visual of motion beginning and continuing once set in action.
A third theory highlights political pageantry, especially during the American presidential campaign of 1840. That campaign featured large rolling balls as parade props and a song with the chorus, “It is the ball a-rolling on, for Tippecanoe and Tyler too.” This spectacle brought the expression to popular attention in the United States, though most evidence shows the phrase already existed before this event.
Early Records and Lexicographical Dating
Historical records place the figurative use of “get the ball rolling” or “set the ball rolling” around 1770. This dating establishes the idiom’s presence in English decades before the American campaign that later popularized it. The late eighteenth-century use supports the idea that the phrase developed in Britain rather than in America.
Early Printed Examples
Although the earliest citations trace to about 1770, one accessible nineteenth-century example appears in Alfred Kingston’s Fragments of Two Centuries (1893), recounting events from 1831. The passage reads:
“Mr. E. K. Fordham, the veteran banker and reformer, was the first to set the ball rolling, and a regular scheme of house to house visitation was resorted to.”
Another influential appearance occurred during the 1840 American presidential campaign. A campaign song included the line:
“It is the ball a-rolling on, for Tippecanoe and Tyler too.”
This popularized the imagery of a rolling ball across the United States and embedded it into everyday political and social speech.
Country of First Appearance
The balance of evidence suggests that “get the ball rolling” originated in Britain in the late eighteenth century. The 1770 dating and subsequent nineteenth-century British examples support this view. While the 1840 American campaign spread the phrase widely, it did not invent the idiom but rather made it part of mainstream American culture.
Historical Pathway
The most convincing historical pathway is that the phrase first arose from everyday images of rolling a ball to start play in games, which then extended into figurative language by the late 1700s. By the early 1800s, it appeared in British print. The 1840 U.S. presidential campaign later gave the idiom huge publicity, ensuring its survival and wide use on both sides of the Atlantic.
The variants “set the ball rolling” and “keep the ball rolling” are attested much earlier, with usage traced to the early 1800s, whereas “get the ball rolling” only rose to wide popularity in the late 1890s and early 1900s.
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