four-letter man

Itasan · Post by **Itasan** » Wed Aug 31, 2005 11:23 am

'a four-letter man'
Does it mean 'a disgusting man'?
Do you also say 'a four-letter woman' or
'a four-letter person'?
Thank you.

Lorikeet · Post by **Lorikeet** » Thu Sep 01, 2005 1:12 am

Oh my, I always thought that referred to the letter an athlete got for belonging to a sports team in high school. Do they still do that? Does it mean something else?

sbourque · Post by **sbourque** » Mon Sep 05, 2005 11:06 pm

I think Lorikeet is right--at my high school, you could letter in various sports (football, baseball, basketball, tennis, track, golf) but I never knew anyone who lettered in more than 3. It refers to spending a certain amount of time on the team.