Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. sexual intercourse; in weak sense, flirtations, relationships (see cite 1910).

1512		Hickscorner Aiii: Johan and Sybbell Now they were spyed in bedde togyder [...] They twayne togyder had good sporte But at the stewes syde I lost a grote.
c.1520		The Boke of Mayd Emlyn line 93: A yonge lusty one She dyd then take [...] full ofte spake To haste the weddynge And all for beddynge, Some sport to make; Her herte to ease And the flesshe to please.
1542		‘The Gaberlunzie Man’ in Farmer Merry Songs and Ballads (1897) I 3: Fu’ snug in a glen, where nane could see, / The twa, with kindlie sport and glee, / Cut frae a new cheese a whang.
c.1550		A. Scott Poems (1821) 41: In oxsteris cloiss, we kiss, and cossis hairtis, Brynt in desyre of amouris play and sport.
1570		Marriage of Wit and Science I i: Pleasure pricketh fourth my youth to feele a greater fyre, What though I be to young to shewe her sport in bed, Yet are there many in thys lande that at my yeares doe wedde.
1595		‘W.S.’ Lamentable Tragedie of Locrine IV iii: I carried her valiently to the bed [...] flung my selfe vpon her, and there I delighted her so with the sport I made.
1606		J. Day Ile of Guls IV i: She and I would haue about at cob-nut cherry-pit, or somewhat to keepe ourselues from idleness, though she be a foole, the bable’s good enough to make sport withall in the darke.
1610–20		‘The New Exchange’ in Farmer Merry Songs and Ballads (1897) V 4: Here’s dice and boxes, if you please / To play at in and in [...] & if you like such thundering spourt, / Here is my ladyes hole.
1621		R. Burton Anatomy of Melancholy 3.3.4.2: When as afterward he did not play the man as he should doe, she fell in league with a good fellow, and whil’st hee [...] continued at his study late, she at her sport.
c.1640		T. Killigew Parson’s Wedding in Dodsley XIV (1875) II vii: ’Tis certain the court is the bravest place in the kingdom for sport, if it were well looked to, and the game preserved fair; but, as ’tis, a man may sooner make a set in the Strand.
1656		W. Wright ‘Preparative to a Pacification’ in Carpenter Verse in English from Tudor & Stuart Eng. (2003) 317: Of pleasant sports and mery-trix a many / [...] /To Friday Market, where then may be sold / Private Commodities, both Young and Old.
1658		Mennis & Smith ‘A Wife’ Wit Restor’d (1817) 204: A lusty young wife [...] Oft a grave Doctor ask’d, whether’s more right For Venus sports, the morning or the night.
c.1660		‘The Knight and the Beggar-Wench’ in Euing Broadside Ballads No. 155: Quoth I pretty Mort, / Let me show thee some sport.
1672–76		‘Amorous Dialogue Btwn John & his Mistress’ in Farmer Merry Songs and Ballads (1897) II 68: Such sport to refuse who was ever so mad, / I’le take it where ever it is to be had.
1684		Rochester (attrib.) Sodom 304I i: My Prick to Bald Cunt shal no more resort: / Merkins rub off & often spoile the sport.
1699		N. Ward ‘The Insinuating Bawd’ Writings (1704) 83: Her Blood’s Corrupted, and her Breath’s grown Short, / And all for want of Love’s Salubrious Sport.
1706		Fifteen Comforts of Cuckoldom 6: To have her full / Of sport, she’s run away a Soldier’s Trull.
1728		J. Dalton Narrative of Street-Robberies 27: They being Lovers of the Sport.
1734		C. Johnson Hist. of Highwaymen &c. 174: Going to address himself to the Sport of Venus, the dear innocent Soul cried out, What are you going to do to me? [Ibid.] 436: The Sport being over, they parted.
1759		Low Life Above Stairs I i: You must know I have for some time past languished, with the most tender Passion for the Duchess of Lovesport.
1765		H. Howard Choice Spirits Museum 32: Six times he put in and six Times he pull’d out, Sir, Till weary with Sport he could angle no more.
1775		‘Miss Blair’ Ranger’s Impartial List of the Ladies of Pleasure in Edinburgh n.p.: And when the sport is over, she will soon make nature revive, by a peculiar art that she is entire mistress of.
c.1780		‘Sally Mac Gee’ in A. Carpenter Verse in Eng. in 18C Ireland (1998) 513: The night being come, we to sport went merrily.
c.1780		The only True LIST, of those celebrated SPORTING LADIES [broadsheet] Miss Wi-dg-se, who, though short, gives excellent sport [and] never throws her rider.
1787		‘Hush Cat from under the Table’ in A. Carpenter Verse in Eng. in 18C Ireland (1998) 404: A room we did call for, / We there took our sport.
1786		C. Morris ‘The Great Plenipotentiary’ Collection of Songs (1788) 39: As he knew in our State that the Women have weight, / He chose one well hung for good Sport, Sir.
1836		‘Riding St. George!’ Comic Songster and Gentleman’s Private Cabinet 32: I really were pleased wi’ the sport.
1845		T. Rowlandson Pretty Little Games (1872) plate ii: The Country Squire to London came, / And left behind his dogs and game; / Yet finer sport he has in view, / And hunts the hare and coney too.
1901		More Forbidden Fruit 23: I timed myself to get to the cottage [...] so as to have a long afternoon in case i found any sport.
1910		Bastow & Leigh [perf. George Bastow] ‘Captain Ginjah O.T.’ 🎵 When I look back and think tut-tut what sport I’ve had / In certain quarters I'm afraid my reputation’s bad.
1916		T. Burke Limehouse Nights 309: On’y a bit of sport, that’s all.
1928		M. West Pleasure Man (1997) III ii: Ever since I knew that my sister was used for some man’s dirty sport.
1932		‘R. Scully’ Scarlet Pansy 248: She came to the question, ‘What sports are you interested in,’ answered, ‘I am a sexual athlete. Naturally, I am interested in all indoor sports.’.
1948		(con. 1927) in Randolph & Legman Ozark Folksongs and Folklore (1992) II 618: His favorite sport is the hole of the queen.
1965		H. Rhodes Chosen Few (1966) 204: She told me I was th’ first staff she ever saw who didn’t have a measly twenty dollars for a little sport.
1966		C. Himes Run Man Run (1969) 147: ‘What kind of sport?’ [...] ‘The sport.’ ‘Oh, you mean women.’.
1992		Randolph & Legman Ozark Folksongs and Folklore II 595: Sport once referred almost exclusively to sexual play [...] in such out-dated phrases as ‘sporting house’ (of prostitution).

2. a playboy, a man-about-town, with the accent on gambling, womanizing and other areas of the ‘fast’ life.

1856		Harper’s Mag. Dec. 60/1: The very words ‘sport’ and ‘sportsmen’ have been perverted from their old English significations to mean gaming and gamblers [DA].
1869		C.G. Leland ‘Breitmann in Politics’ in Hans Breitmann About Town 40: Und dey brinted dem in efery vay / To make de beoples laugh, / Und comment on dem in de shtyle / Dat ‘sports’ call ‘slasher-gaff’.
1873		J. O’Connor Wanderings of a Vagabond 20: A ‘bully firm’ was the verdict of the sports of the town.
1882		Sydney Sl. Dict. (2 edn) 8: Sport - American term for a gambler or turfite.
1887		G. Devol Forty Years a Gambler 16: I made inquiries for a faro bank, and at last found one; and I bolted in as if I was an old sport.
1890		Bulletin (Sydney) 5 July 12/1: Alfred Joseph, a gay sport from Bendigo, found his only Parisian difficulty to be that of ‘distinguishing Aspasia from the Nobility.’ A similar difficulty is cropping up in Sydney.
1896		F. Hutcheson Barkeep Stories 32: ‘[D]on’t yer know me? I’m Willie Wilkins, an’ y’ll find me a hotter sport den any o’ yez’.
1901		Sydney Sportsman (Surry Hills, NSW) 17 Apr. 1/3: Home of the horsey hustler and [...] the dubious dirty doers who are familiarly known by the appellation of ‘sports’.
1906		S. Ford Shorty McCabe 89: Every tinhorn sport has his bundle, you know; but it’s only your real gent that can flash a check book.
1912		Truth (Wellington) 6 Apr. 7/5: She chummed up with Abingdon Baird, a sport who owned a string of racers.
1917		‘Banjo’ Paterson ‘The Downfall of Mulligan’s’ in Three Elephant Power 59: The sports of Paddy’s Flat unearthed a phenomenal runner in the shape of a black fellow called Frying-pan Joe.
1919		Van Loan ‘His Own Stuff’ in Score by Innings (2004) 388: I’m going to meet her at the stage door after the show [...] and she won’t think I’m a sport unless I open wine.
1924		S. Scott Human Side of Crook and Convict Life 35: Before the half-hour was up he was [...] telling me that I was a sport, and he was a sport, and that we were the only two ‘sports’ in the world.
1936		G. Greene Gun for Sale (1973) 82: He’s a sport, old Piker.
1938		H.M. Anderson Strip Tease 31: ‘The girls aren’t interested in two-bit sports’.
1949		N. Algren Man with the Golden Arm 11: The real sports, the all-night boys [...] called him Automatic Majcinek.
1955		B. Appel Tough Guy [ebook] Women in flowered hats [...] drank with the cigar-smoking Eighth Avenue sports.
1956		S. Selvon Lonely Londoners 115: You could [...] negotiate ten shillings or a pound with the sports.
1961		C. Himes Pinktoes (1989) 190: Black sports from uptown began accosting dignified white ladies.
1964-69		(con. 1920s) S. James in Calt I’d Rather Be the Devil (1994) 67: ‘He [i.e. a pimp] was nothin’ but a ‘sport,’ [...] He didn’t have to work: womens workin’ for him’ .
1969		C. Himes Blind Man with a Pistol (1971) 52: The comely young brownskinned miss presented her collection basket to a group of sports of allsorts in front of the Paradise Inn.

3. an eccentric.

1896

Daily Tel. 29 Dec. in Ware (1909) 231/1: It is still undeniable that a child who is not interested in animals [...] must be wanting in some of the most graceful and endearing instincts of the childish nature. Such infantile ‘sports’, however, are happily rare.

4. (esp. Aus.) a man.

1885		Bulletin (Sydney) 13 June 14/2: Meantime, all ‘sports’ will wish him a speedy return to ‘form,’ for Shorter is, in every sense of the word, a billiard-player of the best type.
1905		Sun. Times (Perth) 1 Oct. 4/8: Note the hundreds of city ‘sports’ who go on the land meaning thereby the Esplanade - most days of the week.
1922		S. Lewis Babbitt (1974) 235: Why, here’s Mr. Babbitt! He ain’t one of these ordinary sports! He’s a real guy!
1942		N. Algren Never Come Morning (1988) 134: He’d made her, hadn’t he? He’d scored, and the other sports had scored.
1988		D. Woodrell Muscle for the Wing 45: He was a short old sport, with thin white hair.

5. as a term of address to a man, occas. a woman.

1906		Marvel 17 Nov. 464: ‘Evening, sports! Don’t shift on my account!’ said Neepy.
1914		Sport (Adelaide) 10 Jan. 9/4: Roll up, sports, see Ned’s knockout blow .
1917		F. Packard Adventures of Jimmie Dale (1918) I ii: Y’re all right, sport — y’re all right.
1936		D. Stivens Tramp and Other Stories 5: Give them a clap! That’s good. Thank you, sports.
1949		N. Algren Man with the Golden Arm 269: Buy me one short beer, sport.
1953		I. Hamilton Till Human Voices Wake Us 28: Don’t worry, sport, it’s all part of the punishment.
1957		‘Nino Culotta’ They’re a Weird Mob (1958) 19: Look sport, get lost will yer? I can’t stand ’ere maggin’ ter you all day.
1963		J. Rechy City of Night 39: ‘That score digs you, spote.’ (He said sport like that: spote).
1967		J. Wynnum I’m a Jack, All Right 15: Look here, Sport [...] I’m doing you a good turn, and don’t forget it.
1976		P. Theroux Family Arsenal 94: I’ve got a job for you, sport.
1986		C. Bowles G’DAY 5: Australians no longer call each other ‘sport’ or ‘cobber’. [...] ‘Sport’ is now used as a signal; word and a threat, as in ‘Watch it, sport’.
1987		T. Wolfe Bonfire of the Vanities 62: ‘Look . . . sport,’ said Sherman, ‘I want you to put that sheet away.’.
1995		C. Hiaasen Stormy Weather 23: If she’s your sister, sport, then I’m twins with Mel Gibson.
2003		Guardian G2 5 June 3: Alright, don’t spit your dummy, sport.
2010		L. Berney Gutshot Straight [ebook] [to a woman] ‘Whatcha doin’ there, sport?’ he asked. She turned around, flicked the other dress strap off, peeked at him over her shoulder.
2014		M. McBride Swollen Red Sun 129: ‘You oughta not concern yourself with that, sport’.
2012		(con. 1943) G.S. Manson Irish Fandango [ebook] ‘Are you deaf, sport?’.

6. in weaker use of sense 4, a general term of approbation, ‘a good chap’; esp. in phr. be a sport.

1895		E. Townsend Chimmie Fadden Explains 11: His Whiskers is a dead sport mostly.
1905		H. Green Actors’ Boarding House (1906) 59: That Sam’s a swell dip, an’ blows his coin like a sport.
1915		Wodehouse Psmith Journalist (1993) 171: Bully for you, Pugsy! [...] You’re a little sport.
1917		Truth (Wellington) 13 Oct 5/7: Mine host of the Albert is known as a ‘sport’ [...] He’s a dinkum good fellow, and a bosker good friend.
c.1921		T. Norman Penny Showman 7: Come on be a sport. Fetch her out.
1929		(con. 1916) F. Manning Her Privates We (1986) 35: I think you are a bloody good sport.
1936		D. Burley in Chicago Defender 29 Feb. 11: You’re one of the best sports along the stroll [...] you’re o.k.
1936		J. Curtis Gilt Kid 248: ‘Give us a smoke.’ ‘No.’ ‘Come on, be a sport.’.
1936		T. O’Reilly Tiger of the Legion 88: [of a woman] She was a real sport, that little woman.
1941		K. Tennant Battlers 154: ‘Aw, don’t be a nark,’ the boy stammered. ‘Be a sport and help me upstairs. I’m all in.’.
1953		Kramer & Karr Teen-Age Gangs 146: He took it as a good sport.
1960		E. De Roo Big Rumble 122: Get with it now. Be good sports. No wall flowers allowed.
1971		A. Buzo The Roy Murphy Show (1973) 107: Don’t be a bad sport.
1982		P. Theroux London Embassy 80: ‘Be a sport,’ I said.
2000		Indep. Rev. 2 Feb. 7: ‘You’re a sport’ is usually what we say to some poor klutz after we’ve made his life a little bit worse.

7. (Aus.) as sense 2, of a woman.

1913		Sport (Adelaide) 11 Jan. 13/3: They Say [...] That Joe W., G.R., and Dr. J. were seen talking to two tarts known as Annie and Ethel, who were reading the ‘Sport.’ They are sports.
1930		L. Lower Here’s Luck 141: ‘Any time you’ve got a party on, let me know and I’ll bring a carload of girls for you. All sports’ .

8. (US gay) a male prostitute.

1972

B. Rodgers Queens’ Vernacular 111: a male prostitute [...] sport.