tug-of-war 的詞源

1670年代，「決定性的比賽，真正的鬥爭」，來自tug (n.) 在「極大努力，激烈的力量競爭」(1650年代) 的比喻意義。作為實際的拔河運動名稱，1876年有證據。

When Greek meets Greek then comes the tug of war: when one strong champion meets another of equal prowess the fight is a keen one. [Dixon, "Dictionary of Idiomatic English Phrases," 1891]

When Greek meets Greek then comes the tug of war：當一位強大的冠軍遇到另一位同樣出色的對手，戰鬥便是激烈的。[Dixon, "Dictionary of Idiomatic English Phrases," 1891]

這句話似乎是從納撒尼爾·李在18世紀關於亞歷山大大帝的歷史劇中的一句台詞修改而來：

Clytus. Your father Philip,—I have seen him march,

And fought beneath his dreadful banner, where

The stoutest at the table wou'd ha' trembl'd.

Nay, frown not, sir, you cannot look me dead ;

When Greeks joined Greeks, then was the tug of war,

The labour'd battle sweat, and conqueft bled.

[Nathaniel Lee, "The Rival Queens," 1774] 

Clytus. Your father Philip,—I have seen him march,

And fought beneath his dreadful banner, where

The stoutest at the table wou'd ha' trembl'd.

Nay, frown not, sir, you cannot look me dead;

When Greeks joined Greeks, then was the tug of war,

The labour'd battle sweat, and conqueft bled.

[Nathaniel Lee, "The Rival Queens," 1774] 

There are twenty Greeks in Chicago, hence when they meet there are ten tugs of war. The Secretary of the Navy should buy up those tugs of war without delay, and then we would have a navy. ["Texas Siftings," Feb. 1883]

芝加哥有二十個希臘人，因此當他們相遇時，就會有十場拔河戰。海軍部長應該毫不延遲地購買那些拔河戰，然後我們就會有一支海軍。[“Texas Siftings,” 1883年2月]