The scoreboard reveals the outcomes of the ladies’s singles last match between Iga Swiatek of Poland and Amanda Anisimova of the U.S. on the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, Saturday, July 12, 2025.
Kirsty Wigglesworth/AP
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Kirsty Wigglesworth/AP
Fifteen factors in tennis? Good. Thirty, 40 — even higher. Benefit — that sounds good. “Love” — that additionally should be nice, proper? Effectively, not fairly.
Because the French Open rolls on and Serena Williams has introduced her return to the game, possibly you have been paying a bit of extra consideration to tennis. The game’s scoring system is notably distinct, and may generally be onerous to know for newcomers. However even tennis aficionados may not know why, or how, “love” grew to become the unmistakable callout for zero factors. For this installment of NPR’s Phrase of the Week, we’re exploring how a phrase that signifies trailing behind acquired such a candy title.
“Love” comes from the center — or an egg?
It is onerous to pinpoint when the primary tennis ball went over the web. Tennis is a spinoff of numerous different sports activities, akin to “jeu de paume,” a handball sport performed in France, mentioned JT Buzanga, the collections supervisor on the Worldwide Tennis Corridor of Fame museum.
However tennis grew to become a patented, official sport in 1874, mentioned Steve Flink, a journalist whose tennis protection acquired him inducted into the Worldwide Tennis Corridor of Fame. It has retained its distinctive, mysterious scoring system ever since.
“By and enormous, the unique system has held up nearly completely,” Flink mentioned.
The usage of “love” goes again to the late 18th century, mentioned Jesse Sheidlower, a lexicographer. Nevertheless it was used sooner than that in card video games akin to whist and bridge. Earlier than the time period made its option to tennis, the game favored plain previous “nothing,” or “nil,” he mentioned.
Why love within the first place, although? Historians do not actually know for positive, however there are just a few theories.
The French might have one thing to do with it. Some historians imagine “love” derives from “l’oeuf,” which suggests “the egg” in French. As a result of eggs are formed like zeros, phrases akin to “goose egg” and “duck’s egg” have been utilized in different contexts to imply zero, Sheidlower mentioned.
It is also potential English audio system mispronounced l’oeuf as “love.” However Sheidlower is not satisfied that is the reply.
“It is the French equal of an English expression. However since that expression does not seem in French, the French phrase would not have been used,” he mentioned.
To make sure, France has had loads of affect on tennis tradition, Buzanga mentioned. For instance, “deuce” or a sport tied at 40 factors, comes from the French phrase for “two”: “deux.” However he prefers one other distinguished principle: that “love” comes from the idiom “for the love of the sport.” Even when a participant hasn’t scored, it does not matter, as a result of their coronary heart is in it. It is the speculation Sheidlower mentioned is probably the most believable, as a result of the idiom was utilized by the English earlier than tennis was popularized.
One other variation of the “love of the sport” principle is that the phrase might have come from the Dutch “lof,” or “honor” — or the Latin “amare,” which means “to like,” Flink mentioned.
But when tennis’ “love” does not come from a French phrase, the speculation no less than has a French sensibility.
“I feel the ‘for the love of the sport’ is type of romantic,” Buzanga mentioned.
“Love” in all probability is not going anyplace
Tennis was a sport of leisure. The type of play has modified quite a bit over time; gamers are extra athletic and aggressive, as an example, Flink mentioned. However the guidelines of the game are extra steadfast, he mentioned.
“There’s this unimaginable, enduring respect for custom in tennis,” he mentioned. “Adjustments should not made simply.”
There was one main change in fashionable historical past: the tie-break. Matches can go on and on as a result of gamers have to attain two consecutive factors to interrupt a deuce, or by two video games to interrupt a tied set. However the onset of tv meant matches must get shorter if the game needed to seize a bigger viewers, Flink mentioned.
Change even got here for “love.” Another sprouted up within the Seventies, and continues to be used right now: “bagel,” named for its zero form, Sheidlower mentioned. Novices might say “zero,” and insiders will perceive what they imply, however they “will needle them about it,” Flink mentioned.
However “love” nonetheless prevails.
“Folks type of prefer it,” Flink mentioned. “It is completely different. Why say zero when you may say love?”
