Question: I was wondering if the movie Field of Dreams coined the popular phrase "out of left field," which refers to when someone says or does something out of whack. Is this movie where the term originated?
Answer: The easy part of the answer is no: The term "out of left field" existed long before Field of Dreams (1989). The hard part is that there's been an awful lot of discussion (and will probably be much, much more) about precisely where it did come from and when. No less an expert than William Safire has tackled the question in the New York Times, and the two most prevalent theories appear to be these: First, that it originated as an insult during the 1920s, when right fielder Babe Ruth played for the Yankees and only an idiot or a crazy person would buy tickets for left-field seats at Yankee Stadium. Second, continuin
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