monday-morning quarterback
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.88 in modern English
50
Scrabble Score
24
Letters
7
Syllables
16
Unique Chars
Meaning
Example Sentences
- "Yet some Monday-morning quarterbacks also noted that, just as 1960 was the first TV election and 2016 was the first social-media election, the 2024 Presidential campaign was the first to be conducted largely on live streams and long-form podcasts, media that happen to be thoroughly dominated by MAGA bros."
- "Before any show, we "Monday-morning quarterback" the last show. Each man points out his partners' errors, then has to listen to his own."
- "We can Monday-morning quarterback the situation and suggest that the large company should have made a counterchallenge."
- "Nathan, Dave & Marty, wisely chose to leave the battle strategy to the police, Monday-morning quarterbacking the fray from inside the safety of a cement block restroom building."
Etymology
Professional football games in the United States are most often played on Sundays, making Monday a likely day for fans to discuss and critique the performances of teams, in particular that of the quarterback who leads the offence on the field. However, there is evidence that the term actually derived in college football, which is usually played on Saturdays, in which case the use of Monday would also likely be on account of Sunday being the Christian sabbath and a traditional day of rest in the U.S., making it unlikely certain groups with a common interest in the game (such as co-workers) would meet before Monday.
Usage
- American usage
- Transitive verb