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Reader question: Please explain this headline: “Six former champs throw their hat in the ring for Australian Open.” “hat in the ring”? My comments: Former champs are players who have previously won the Australian Open, an annual event. Six of those former champs have decided to join this year’s competition. By “throwing their hat in the ring”, figuratively speaking. The question is: What “hat”, what “ring”? This expression, “throw one’s hat in the ring” is originally a boxing terminology. The hat is the same hat people wear on the top of their head. The ring refers to the ring, or circle of people watching the boxing match in the middle. Today, the ring is still used to describe the boxing ring, the square canvas enclosed with ropes on which stage two boxers weave and dance, trying to outpunch each other. Even if it’s a square nowadays, the ring still stands. In the olden days in America, where this expression was first created in the 19th century, boxing rings were, as it were, just a ring, a circle of people, without much of the modern day facilities and fanfare. Still the excitement must have been the same, if not more. In olden days, boxing was also called prize fighting, because usually boxers play for money (also known as a purse, containing the winning prize money). It is just as well because otherwise it’d be hard to imagine how people would enjoy watching or participating in a game wherein guys beat each other up. Presumably the money was the fun part of it – it made the pain worth their while. | 
