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by Cowtipper on August 23rd, 2009

Cowtipper

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Why do we say "pitch black"? What does the "pitch" mean?

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  • by Sid on August 23rd, 2009

    Sid

    After pitch resin, which is very black.

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  • by ronny on August 24th, 2009

    ronny

    The term comes from baseball in the early 1800's all
    games were called when a pitcher could not throw to see
    the plate,this came to be known as 'apitch black game.'

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  • by Buck Swazy on August 24th, 2009

    Buck Swazy

    "Pitch black" or "black as pitch" refers to "a black or dark viscous substance obtained as a residue in the distillation of organic materials and especially tars." (Merriam-Webster online)

    http://www.phrases.org.uk/.../1033.html

    Idiom: black as night

    Also, black as coal or pitch. Totally black; also, very dark. For example, The well was black as night, or She had eyes that were black as coal. These similes have survived while others--black as ink, a raven, thunder, hell, the devil, my hat, the minister's coat, the ace of spades--are seldom if ever heard today. Of the current objects of comparison, pitch may be the oldest, so used in Homer's Iliad (c. 850 b.c.), and coal is mentioned in a Saxon manuscript from a.d. 1000. John Milton used black as night in Paradise Lost (1667).

    http://www.answers.com/topic/black-as-night

    pitch:

    Any of various thick, dark, sticky substances obtained from the distillation residue of coal tar, wood tar, or petroleum and used for waterproofing, roofing, caulking, and paving.

    Any of various natural bitumens, such as mineral pitch or asphalt.

    A resin derived from the sap of various coniferous trees, as the pines.

    http://education.yahoo.com/reference/dictionary/entry/pitch

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