Sprint Triathlon = "Triathlete" ?

Master

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Oceanside, California

Subject: RE: Sprint Triathlon = "Triathlete" ?

colinphillips - 2011-05-30 4:50 PM

I've been reluctant to chime in here, but can't hold back. In my day job I'm a linguist, and it seems that we're dealing here with two systematic aspects of word meaning. And the OP's colleague is a clear reflection of that, albeit in a less than entirely tactful manner. (I should add that I have no opinion on the appropriate use of the term 'triathlete', just adding some context here.)

First, speakers tend to have different standards for applying terms to people, depending on how momentous the terms are. Murder once, and you are a murderer, for life, however much you redeem yourself. On the other hand, a generally honest person who tells one lie isn't likely to be called a liar 5 years later. Murder is viewed as a big deal, lying is not. You have to be a habitual liar for the label to stick. What about 'thief'? Well, it's kind of in between, so people probably have different views on what it takes to earn the label. In the area of sporting activity we see a similar scale. Swimming the English Channel is a Big Deal, so you only need to do it once to be called a channel swimmer. And for most folks the same is true for Ironman. At the other end of the scale, to be described as a runner, golfer, hiker, you need to do it often, as it's not seen as a big deal. What about 'marathoner'? It's quite an achievement, but nowadays it's not so unusual, so most folks would probably not describe a one-time marathon finisher as a marathoner. And then there's 'triathlete'? It's another of those in-between things. Quite a big deal for many people, especially if they could never imagine themselves doing it (... and many of us here were once in that position), so for those people it doesn't take much to earn the label. But as people find the notion of doing a triathlon more ordinary, the bar for applying the term 'triathlete' is set correspondingly higher. So there's nothing unusual in the dilemma that people are facing.

Second, people attach meanings to words not just based on dictionary definitions. From before their first birthday they form generalizations about word meanings based on the examples that they have seen. The more varied the examples, the broader the meaning of the word. If you only ever hear 'dog' applied to greyhounds, then you might not realize that the term also applies to poodles. Everything works out fine in most cases, but things break down when public perception of a category is dominated by some extreme examples. Most of us probably associate 'meteorologist' or 'detective' with TV characters who are entirely unrepresentative of their profession. And I bet those meteorologists spend their time at parties explaining that, "No, my job is not at all like Willard Scott's". Triathlon is similar. Most people have only heard of the Hawaii Ironman, and so that's what they think a triathlete does. So they're disappointed to learn that triathletes include a bunch of more humble souls. Just as we'd be miffed to learn that the neighbor who described himself as a detective is not at all like those prime-time sleuths.

Way too insightful for an internet forum!

For penance, you must hang out in COJ & change you screen name to Cunning-Linguist.

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Subject: RE: Sprint Triathlon = "Triathlete" ?

My mom's co-worker was doing the Oly tri this Sunday, while I did the Sprint. Before when I was trying to find out what distance he was doing, I asked if he was doing the Sprint, and my mom replied: "No he's doing the real triathlon."
Anyways, I dragged my mom out to come watch me, and when we were driving home, she was so impressed that not only did I finish the sprint, that I raced the sprint. After just watching me race she realized that a triathlon is a swim, a bike and a run, at any distance.
Presumably a Triathlete should be someone who participates in the act of swimming, biking and running collectively, at any distance and gives it their everything from start to finish.

Although I don't consider myself a Triathlete, because it is not my defining sport. I am a horseback rider, who does triathlons. But if/when I stop riding for triathlons, I'll be the Triathlete who rode horses.

ETA: Also, see my sig, change champion to triathlete.

Edited by SmBkRn450 2011-05-30 11:55 PM

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Subject: RE: Sprint Triathlon = "Triathlete" ?

colinphillips - 2011-05-31 9:50 AM

I've been reluctant to chime in here, but can't hold back. In my day job I'm a linguist, and it seems that we're dealing here with two systematic aspects of word meaning. And the OP's colleague is a clear reflection of that, albeit in a less than entirely tactful manner. (I should add that I have no opinion on the appropriate use of the term 'triathlete', just adding some context here.)

First, speakers tend to have different standards for applying terms to people, depending on how momentous the terms are. Murder once, and you are a murderer, for life, however much you redeem yourself. On the other hand, a generally honest person who tells one lie isn't likely to be called a liar 5 years later. Murder is viewed as a big deal, lying is not. You have to be a habitual liar for the label to stick. What about 'thief'? Well, it's kind of in between, so people probably have different views on what it takes to earn the label. In the area of sporting activity we see a similar scale. Swimming the English Channel is a Big Deal, so you only need to do it once to be called a channel swimmer. And for most folks the same is true for Ironman. At the other end of the scale, to be described as a runner, golfer, hiker, you need to do it often, as it's not seen as a big deal. What about 'marathoner'? It's quite an achievement, but nowadays it's not so unusual, so most folks would probably not describe a one-time marathon finisher as a marathoner. And then there's 'triathlete'? It's another of those in-between things. Quite a big deal for many people, especially if they could never imagine themselves doing it (... and many of us here were once in that position), so for those people it doesn't take much to earn the label. But as people find the notion of doing a triathlon more ordinary, the bar for applying the term 'triathlete' is set correspondingly higher. So there's nothing unusual in the dilemma that people are facing.

Second, people attach meanings to words not just based on dictionary definitions. From before their first birthday they form generalizations about word meanings based on the examples that they have seen. The more varied the examples, the broader the meaning of the word. If you only ever hear 'dog' applied to greyhounds, then you might not realize that the term also applies to poodles. Everything works out fine in most cases, but things break down when public perception of a category is dominated by some extreme examples. Most of us probably associate 'meteorologist' or 'detective' with TV characters who are entirely unrepresentative of their profession. And I bet those meteorologists spend their time at parties explaining that, "No, my job is not at all like Willard Scott's". Triathlon is similar. Most people have only heard of the Hawaii Ironman, and so that's what they think a triathlete does. So they're disappointed to learn that triathletes include a bunch of more humble souls. Just as we'd be miffed to learn that the neighbor who described himself as a detective is not at all like those prime-time sleuths.

From one Phillips to another.........you da man.......Awesome post.

Everyone that knows I do triathlons are very positive to the point of being proud and in awe of me for doing them (being a bit of a fatty).

I do, however, have this one mate who tells everyone that I do Ironmans or that I'm training for an Ironman and I have to explain that I only do sprints.

I do feel more comfortable with telling people that I do triathlons rather than being a triathlete though. I think for me it is labeling myself as any sort of athlete when I don't look like one.

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Master

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Subject: RE: Sprint Triathlon = "Triathlete" ?

Since I do four sprints every year, someone could call me a triathlete with a reasonable degree of accuracy. If asked, I'll say, "I like to do sprint triathlons."

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Subject: RE: Sprint Triathlon = "Triathlete" ?

pipsyboy - 2011-05-31 1:39 AM

I do feel more comfortable with telling people that I do triathlons rather than being a triathlete though. I think for me it is labeling myself as any sort of athlete when I don't look like one.

What does an athlete look like? Like a linebacker? Tennis player? Marathoner? Call yourself an athlete or not, but don't base it on looks. There's no standard athlete look. I always get a kick out of the person who shows up to a ride looking like they are way out of shape and proceed to blow everyone away. And I love the egos of those who can't take that and blow themselves up trying to keep up. Yup, fun times.

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Subject: RE: Sprint Triathlon = "Triathlete" ?

SmBkRn450 - 2011-05-30 11:54 PM

My mom's co-worker was doing the Oly tri this Sunday, while I did the Sprint. Before when I was trying to find out what distance he was doing, I asked if he was doing the Sprint, and my mom replied: "No he's doing the real triathlon."
Anyways, I dragged my mom out to come watch me, and when we were driving home, she was so impressed that not only did I finish the sprint, that I raced the sprint. After just watching me race she realized that a triathlon is a swim, a bike and a run, at any distance.
Presumably a Triathlete should be someone who participates in the act of swimming, biking and running collectively, at any distance and gives it their everything from start to finish.

Although I don't consider myself a Triathlete, because it is not my defining sport. I am a horseback rider, who does triathlons. But if/when I stop riding for triathlons, I'll be the Triathlete who rode horses.

ETA: Also, see my sig, change champion to triathlete.

Yeah -- similar situation once, a long time ago, someone said `Are you doing the real marathon or the other one?' I said `I guess I'm doing the other one since I didn't know there was a marathon that day.' To which they replied ``Oh there are two races that day.'' It was a 5K-10K. People be uninformed.

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Master

2500

Crab Cake City

Subject: RE: Sprint Triathlon = "Triathlete" ?

yes

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Subject: RE: Sprint Triathlon = "Triathlete" ?

pipsyboy - 2011-05-30 10:39 PM

I do, however, have this one mate who tells everyone that I do Ironmans or that I'm training for an Ironman and I have to explain that I only do sprints.

This is the only gripe I ever have. I could care less what labels people put on me based on their observations of me, or based on what information I may disclose to them. But if you're going to start talking about me to other people, and label me as X, or say that I'm doing Y events, you better get your facts straight...because it makes it very awkward for me when someone comes up to me and says..."hey...bob from accounting told me you did an Ironman last weekend"...sigh...Do I care what this person thinks...no...but I feel obligated to somewhat set the record straight...which is often times is like pulling teeth.

I've gotten pretty good at it though...conversation usually goes something like...

Person - "hey, I heard you did an Ironman last weekend"

Me - "no, I did a race, but it wasn't an ironman"

Person - "so what kind of race was it."

Me - "ah, it was just this race at X beach"

Person - "so how is that compared to an ironman"

Me - "it's a lot shorter"

Person - "so are you going to do a real ironman now"

Me - "I don't know" (even if I do know)..."Did you see the (fill in the blank) game last night"

Edited by tri808 2011-05-31 2:49 PM

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Subject: RE: Sprint Triathlon = "Triathlete" ?

No.

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The Redlands, QLD, Australia

Subject: RE: Sprint Triathlon = "Triathlete" ?

DP

Edited by pipsyboy 2011-05-31 8:08 PM

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Subject: RE: Sprint Triathlon = "Triathlete" ?

bzgl40 - 2011-05-31 9:50 PM

pipsyboy - 2011-05-31 1:39 AM

I do feel more comfortable with telling people that I do triathlons rather than being a triathlete though. I think for me it is labeling myself as any sort of athlete when I don't look like one.

What does an athlete look like? Like a linebacker? Tennis player? Marathoner? Call yourself an athlete or not, but don't base it on looks. There's no standard athlete look. I always get a kick out of the person who shows up to a ride looking like they are way out of shape and proceed to blow everyone away. And I love the egos of those who can't take that and blow themselves up trying to keep up. Yup, fun times.

The general perception is that they are not fat. I too have people look at my gut when I tell them I do triathlons.

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Pleasanton

Subject: RE: Sprint Triathlon = "Triathlete" ?

I realize I'm a little late to the party, and no I did not read all the posts on this thread...just wondering, what has your Dick coworker has accomplished in his life??? And F-YES your a Triathlete!!! After doing better than i could have ever expected to on my first Tri (a sprint), I felt ready to tackle UIM the next day. Never felt like more of a triathlete in my life.

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Sprint Triathlon = "Triathlete" ? (Page 5)

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