The word "derby" is often heard in sports news broadcasts. However, the meaning of this noun is not easy to understand right away, because it is used not only when talking about team sports such as football, basketball, hockey, but also when it comes to horse racing.
Derby origin
There is a version that the word "derby" comes from the name of a city in England, where since the 18th century, during the nationwide spring festivities timed to coincide with the end of winter (an analogue of our Maslenitsa), residents were divided into two teams, approximately equal in number of players. The goal of some was to bring the ball to the local monastery in all possible ways, while the other half tried to prevent this and score into the conditional goal of the enemy, they were the gallows on the southern outskirts of the city.
The fight for the victory was not a joke, often those participating in the game were injured and mutilated. However, some scholars of the English language argue that originally the term referred exclusively to equestrian competitions at racetracks, which were first organized by the Earl of Derby in the late 18th century. It meant a prize in the running and racing tests of horses at the hippodrome. Later, the concept was transferred to team sports.
What is Derby
Today the word "derby" is used to emphasize the importance of the upcoming game between bitter rivals. As a rule, these teams (football, volleyball, hockey or basketball) belong to the same region or city and have a rich history of opposition. For example, the match "Spartak" - "CSKA" is often referred to as derby, and "Spartak" - "Lokomotiv" is more likely to be defined only as a match of the round, because despite belonging to the same city, these teams have different goals in the championship.
Sometimes the word "derby" is used in a broader sense. So, for example, the Ural derby can be called the game between the hockey "Traktor" from Chelyabinsk and "Avtomobilist" from Yekaterinburg. Often the fans of the teams contribute to the heat of passion before the derby - in their conditional code of honor, it is considered unacceptable not to go to the stands on that day.
Similar terms
On the territory of continental Europe, the term "derby" is practically not used. Instead, there is another concept that has a similar pronunciation and spelling in all languages. So, in Spain it sounds "El Clasico" (El Clasico), and sometimes "Superclasico" (El Superclasico), but it refers exclusively to the matches between the two giants of football "Barcelona" and Madrid "Real".
In the Netherlands, the confrontation between the main teams of Feyenoord and Ajax is called the De Klassieker. In Portugal, the term Classico is used to define matches between bitter rivals united by geography. Meanwhile, the noun "derby" is used in all countries when talking about equestrian sports and competitions at the hippodrome.