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Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Language/2020 June 21

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June 21

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Taking a knee

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Within the past few days I have come across the phrase "take a knee", meaning "kneel down". Who first used it? It seems to have some connection to the "Black lives matter" movement. 92.8.216.60 (talk) 13:04, 21 June 2020 (UTC)[reply]

It was in use in American football long before BLM came along. It's a tactic used by the leading team to run down the clock or force the trailing team to take a timeout. See also Taking a knee. ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots13:12, 21 June 2020 (UTC)[reply]
Has kneeling taken the place of falling on the ball (what I dimly recall as the usual practice when I used to watch)? — Doesn't a receiver also often kneel after a fair catch? —Tamfang (talk) 01:16, 24 June 2020 (UTC)[reply]