Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[joyapple]

(The university teachers [b]have too much skin in the game[/b].

The Asian-Ameirican need to score at least 50 points higher than non-Asians even to be[b] in the game[/b].)

The background for the above sentences: University teachers's children can go into the universities where they teach without tuition fee and with lower admission standard.
The admission standard for the Asian-American is much higher.

[b]What is "have much skin in the game" mean, and what does "in the game mean"? Are they idioms? [/b]

[bud]

"To be in the game" is an idiom that describes a situation where the chances for success are reasonable. An applicant to a university is in the game if his or her chances of being admitted are good.

"To have too much skin in the game" is an idiom that I've never heard before. It's meaning is pretty clear, though. It means having too much invested, or too much at risk, towards a desired outcome. So much is invested that a different outcome would not be acceptable.

And since that was probably the worst definition ever recorded in the English language, let's try a different explanation:

skin = the investment or risk (the right of the teacher's children to be accepted more easily than others, and to attend classes for free)

in the game = the admissions process

If that was not helpful, please post a follow-up question!

[moonsun]

How is inverstment/ riske connected with right? I think, if you have "right", then you don't have risk in it. You can enjoy your right.

[bud]

The example itself indicates that those rights are being questioned. Today's right could be tomorrow's history.

[Bob S.]

[CP]

Once again, Bob S. seems to have hit the nail on the head. According to Mr. Google, this might be the source of the quote:

http://www.economist.com/world/na/displaystory.cfm?story_id=7945858

Here's an excerpt:

"Most people think of black football and basketball stars when they hear about �sports scholarships�. But there are also sports scholarships for rich white students who play preppie sports such as fencing, squash, sailing, riding, golf and, of course, lacrosse. The University of Virginia even has scholarships for polo-players, relatively few of whom come from the inner cities.

"You might imagine that academics would be up in arms about this. Alas, they have too much skin in the game. Academics not only escape tuition fees if they can get their children into the universities where they teach. They get huge preferences as well. Boston University accepted 91% of �faculty brats� in 2003, at a cost of about $9m. Notre Dame accepts about 70% of the children of university employees, compared with 19% of �unhooked� applicants, despite markedly lower average SAT scores."
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