Q&A: Why do we call them ‘byes’?

Each week here at the Australian Writers’ Centre, we dissect and discuss, contort and retort, ask and gasp at the English language and all its rules, regulations and ridiculousness. It’s a celebration of language, masquerading as a passive-aggressive whinge about words and weirdness. This week, bye for now…

Q: Hi AWC, what’s the deal with “byes”?

A: Well, sometimes you just have to leave.

Q: No, I’m talking about sports. Like if your team has a “bye” in a round of a competition.

A: Oh, right. According to Macquarie Dictionary, you’re talking about the noun that means: “the state of having no competitor in a contest where several competitors are engaged in pairs, conferring the right to compete in the next round in an eliminatory competition.”

Q: Well, yes, that’s another way of putting it.

A: If you want another definition, Merriam-Webster gives us: “the position of a participant in a tournament who advances to the next round without playing”.

Q: Yeah that works too.

A: Essentially, it’s either a free ticket to the next round OR in a longer league, a week off playing against an opponent.

Q: Great. But WHY is it called a “bye”? Surely it’s not just about saying “goodbye, see you next round/week” is it?

A: It is not. Although, many do assume that “goodbye” is where the meaning comes from. Incidentally, that word went by “godbwye” – short for “god be with ye” before morphing into “good-by“ and eventually today’s form in the late 1500s.

Q: Fascinating. But how do we get a sports “bye” if not from the farewell?

A: Cricket.

Q: Like Jiminy?

A: Nope. Like Tendulkar and Bradman. It seems to have been originally spelt “by” and was in the laws as early as 1746 – for “a run scored on a ball that is missed by the wicket-keeper”. Although today it’s more about the batsman not hitting it.

Q: So it just goes on by?

A: Exactly!

Q: And when you have a “bye” in sport, it’s about missing that round – watching it go past”?

A: Pretty much. It seems cricket adapted it from the preposition “by”, adding the extra “e’ to avoid confusion in notation. For example, “the bowler’s over was marked by many byes.”

Q: Okay, but cricket rules seem rather by the bye really.

A: Haha, well the phrase “by the bye” – from the 1610s – means “by the way” or “incidentally” and British English favours this spelling, but it can also be “by the by” – more commonly in America.

Q: Is “by and by” another version?

A: No, that’s different altogether – and about a century older. The modern meaning of “by and by” means “before long”, for example: “We should be seeing her by and by”. There is no “bye” version in this one.

Q: So the cricket “bye” gave us the general sports “bye”?

A: It sure did. It also gave golf its own “bye” terminology. This according to Macquarie Dictionary is defined as: “the holes of a stipulated course still unplayed after the match is decided.” Furthermore, in golf you might play out those remaining “bye” holes as an extra short game to make them competitive.

Q: I need to work on my short game.

A: Well no, it’s not… never mind.

Q: So when did “byes” start appearing as a missed round in general sporting terminology?

A: This usage seems to have appeared in the late 1860s – the spelling no doubt influenced by sports writers who were already covering the blossoming sport of cricket. 

Q: So to recap, sports “byes” have nothing to do with “goodbyes” but rather were adapted from cricket’s use of a “bye” to mean a ball that was missed by the batsman and a run scored. 

A: That’s right! In a similar way, if you receive a “bye”, your team might miss a week but are still awarded a point. Or in an elimination competition, you are given a win against a phantom opponent.

Q: Ooooh, a phantom opponent! Would he wear his purple suit?

A: No.

Q: Well, there’s only one thing left to say then.

A: What’s that?

Q: Bye!

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