Despite the fact that the Russian language is one of the richest in the world in terms of its vocabulary, it has many borrowed words. Since each language is not just a set of specific lexical units, but a constantly evolving organism, it is replenished with new concepts as new phenomena are introduced into our lives.
And when these innovations come from other countries, new words come with them. An example is the foreign word "handicap" - what is it? A detailed answer to the question is given in this article.
Hand in cap
You can learn from explanatory dictionaries that this is a handicap and what its origin is. They say that this word came to us from the English language and literally means "a hand in a cap." In England, since 1960, there has been a game with this name, in which players who are obviously unequal in strength took part.
Later, the word “handicap” was formed, which was already written together and meant a head start, that is, the initial provision of one or another advantage in order to enable people with different abilities to compete. This word has several, though quiteclose to each other, meanings and is used in different areas. For example, in sports, bookmaking, biology, medicine, politics, psychology and business.
Handicap in sports competitions
First, consider what a handicap means in sports.
- Horse racing with this name. Horses of different ages and unequal virtues (for example, endurance, agility) take part in such races - hence the name. There is also a distance handicap, which involves different lengths of run for different athletes. A weight variety is also practiced, when a load is added to the horses.
- Gundersen's system, where the leader is determined by time. The indicator of the leader is subtracted from the indicator of each participant, at the subsequent stages the athletes are released after him after the received time. The difference in the end time of a stage is equal to the absolute difference of all stages. Used in biathlon, cross-country skiing.
- Using a Competitor's Competitive Number in Golf. It gives the opportunity to compete for athletes with different levels of training.
- Correction of the results of the regatta in sailing, which takes into account the size of the yachts. This is done in order to determine the skill level of yachtsmen sailing the distance on ships with unequal sailing performance.
- In wrestling (a sports show with elements of theatricalization, which is a combination of wrestling and work for the public), matches are practiced with teams that have an unequal number of participants,for example, two against three.
In politics, psychology, medicine
Knowing that a handicap is about giving a handicap, it is interesting to use it in other areas. Here, this concept means an artificially created understanding of the state of a person, due to a set of a number of his physical, mental aspects, social qualities or processes that greatly complicate or even exclude adaptation in society, in a profession, in politics.
This concept is closely related to the concept of "handicapism", which means the presence in society of prejudice towards the above persons, which is a rather dangerous phenomenon. After all, it, in fact, is a kind of other prejudices - racial, national, gender.
What's wrong with the peacock?
In biology there is a handicap principle. What it is? In simple terms, there is a theory that information about a male's genes can be expressed in terms of traits that are detrimental to his survival. The theory was created in 1975 by Israeli evolutionary biologist Amoz Zahavi.
A striking example is the peacock's tail, which makes it difficult to escape from a predator, and the tail is visible from afar. Therefore, there is an assumption that only a male with good genes can survive with such "interference" to the breeding stage. This theory has both supporters and opponents.
European handicap - what is it?
The principle of providingadvantages in the presence of unequal players is actively used in bookmakers. It has two main varieties - European and Asian. Consider the first one first.
European type handicap is indicated by two numbers in brackets, for example, (1:0). It is understood here that the match seemed to start with a score of one-nil in favor of team A. One of the players, taking into account the indicated handicap, bet on the victory of team B "clean".
To win, team B needs to win by two points, if the advantage is only one ball, it will not be enough. After all, then it will turn out to be a virtual draw, and the bet was made only on victory. Thus, the victory of team A or a draw will not suit the player, he will lose the bet.
A variation of the European handicap
A variation of the European system is the triple handicap - what is this option? It consists of placing bets according to the three outcomes of the competition.
Namely:
- Team 1 wins.
- Team 2 wins.
- The match will end in a draw.
At the same time, the bookmaker's office offers the initial score of the match. The main feature of this type of handicap is the inability to return the bet in any case. It also allows you to place bets with an additional condition, which makes it difficult to guess the result. When equal opponents are fighting, this option is not profitable, but if the forces are clearly different, there is a good chance to increase the coefficientrates in the absence of increased risk.
Asian handicap 0 - what is it?
The Asian system, unlike the European one, is more complex, as it involves bets with fractional numbers, for example, 0, 25; 0.5; 1, 5. They give the opportunity to get a handicap of a quarter, half and one and a half goals, respectively.
Another difference is the possibility of providing a zero handicap. Its other name is “Draw. No bids." Let's explain on the example of the game of two teams - "Green T-shirt" and "White Boots". If a zero bet is placed on the Green T-shirt team, then it will win if this team wins. If the players tie, then the bet will be returned. If the White Boots win, the bet will be lost.
