Lexis in Sports

A specialized lexis plays important roles in not just being a part of a discourse community, such as a football team, but also in defining such a community. Lexis that are basic terms related to a football team can be shared between teams but may differ from terms used in lets say a basketball team. There are also more specific and more defined lexis that exist only in one football team and differ between the next team, even though it’s the same sport. One term, created by a coach or player, can be used to describe many actions that the team or individual players execute. These specific lexis can also be code names for certain things like an audible that is to be called by the leader on the field; things that the other team won’t pick up on. A lexis that I used on a day to day basis was in basketball. We had plays that were named and the point guard or coach would call these plays out while bringing the ball down the floor on offense. We could yell out wildcat and the whole team would know exactly what every player was about to do based on the lexis. The other team on the other had will have no idea what action our players are about to do. This is the same concept as a football teams, but different lexis altogether. These terms can vary between sports, between groups, and between individual teams within a sport or group. There are set lexis that many people belonging to the discourse community may know, but there aren’t any specific rules when it comes to creating a lexis pertaining to what you want your players to accomplish or execute out on the field, court, or on stage. Words or phrases that are accepted by the community are also accepted as a lexis.