Why 'love' means 'zero' in tennis

About this episode

This episode explores the origin of the term 'love' meaning 'zero' in tennis and the sport's unique scoring system.

1196. This week, we look at why "love" means "zero" in tennis, from egg-shaped zeros to playing for the love of the game, and how the sport's quirky 15-30-40 scoring system came to be.  🔗  Join the Grammar Girl Patreon. 🔗  Share your familect recording in   Speakpipe  or by leaving a voicemail at 833-214-GIRL (833-214-4475) 🔗  Watch my   LinkedIn Learning writing courses . 🔗  Subscribe to the   newsletter . 🔗  Find an edited   transcript . 🔗  Get   Grammar Girl books . | HOST: Mignon Fogarty | Grammar Girl is part of  the Quick and Dirty Tips podcast network . Audio Engineer:  Castria Communications Director of Podcast: Holly Hutchings Advertising Operations Specialist: Morgan Christianson Marketing and Video: Nat Hoopes, Rebekah Sebastian Podcast Associate: Maram Elnagheeb | Theme music by  Catherine Rannus . | Grammar Girl Social Media:  YouTube .  TikTok .  Facebook .  Threads .  Insta Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

People in this episode

Host: Mignon Fogarty

Topics covered

• tennis scoring
• language
• etymology
• sports terminology
• quirky facts

Keywords

• tennis
• love
• zero
• scoring system
• language
• etymology
• sports

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Quick and Dirty Tips, Castria Communications, LinkedIn Learning, Grammar Girl

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