Agency Terminology: “Krickstein”
August 6, 2008 • 1:44 pm • POSTED BY brendan quinnIf you’ve read this blog at all, you’ve probably noticed that ping pong has gotten to be a Big Deal around the office of the one-six-oh. With this explosion in popularity, certain terminology has emerged, such as:
Krickstein:
1) (verb) to blame an outside object or force for one’s own failure
2) (noun) a person who blames one’s equipment for his or her own snafu
[Origin: Aaron Krickstein, a mid-80s tennis pro who was notorious for blaming his racquet for failures, faking injuries, and generally being a whiny sack of suck. He was the tennis equivalent of Daniel "I hate this friggin bike" LaRusso from the Karate Kid Parts 1, 2 & 3]
Usage: Flanagan pulled a total Krickstein when he blamed a weird glare on the table for his 21-9 loss to Kelly.
Aaron Krickstein, circa 1988, roughly 4 minutes prior to blaming a faulty Hypercolor shirt for his double fault.
I totally don’t like your usage of the term Krickstein (can I get a pronunciation on this?). First of all, people are always blaming my blade for beating them, never just accepting that I’m insanely talented. That’s something that Kelly does all the time, so can we switch Flanagan and Kelly in that usage example?
Whining on a blog? Total Krickstein.
And it’s pronounced “Krik-steen”
I don’t like the term “Krickstein.” Every time I play ping-pong I think of that term, and then my game starts going downhill. I hate that stupid term.
Dear Brendan,
Thank you for the wonderfully informative information on this delightful blog. This particular entry made me very happy. All this time I had improperly used the term “Krickstein.” From some strange reason I used it to refer to the schmutz (sp?) that would accrue on the cuff of my pant when taking my long walks through the wooded (and often muddy!!) glade behind my cul de sac. I would say, “Darn, more Kricksteins! Guess who’s buying some new slacks tomorrow?” LOL. My wife will be especially pleased to hear of my verbal boner.
Keep the tidbits coming!
Yours Truly,
Cory McCall
Spingfield, PA
[...] will need to train day and night to prepare themselves for deceptive drop-shots the inevitable Krickstein, and illegal volatile organic [...]
It’s all downhill from here.