Re: The game is afoot. -- When SH said it, [the game] was the Perp?

On 6/22/2024 9:24 AM, lar3ryca wrote:
> On 2024-06-21 23:47, Tilde wrote:
>> HenHanna wrote:
>>>
>>> The game is afoot.
>>
>> Henry V, Act III, Scene I
>>
>> I see you stand like greyhounds in the slips,
>> Straining upon the start. The game’s afoot.
>>
>>>               When SH said it, [the game] was the Perp?
>>
>> Yes, but...
>>
>>> WHY, then, today we often think of it as:
>>>
>>>             [The fun match has started] ?
>>>
>>>   [The Game] as   a board-game, a friendly match....
>>>                (a competition, a fun activity)
>>>                              something  to be played?
>>>
>>> Did the meaning of the [game] change?
>>
>> As a law enforcement detective type, Holmes not
>> only means by game the Perp where game means a
>> hunter's quarry , but can also mean whatever
>> scheme the Perp has in play. In a philosophical
>> sense it is also The Game.
> 
> I always took it to mean the entire interaction/contest between the 
>              detective and perp.
> 

Apparently that sense of [The game]  was weak    back then.



Has there been a shift in meaning of [game]?
                      from target-animal to fun-competition?


              ----------- You're absolutely right! The meaning of "game" 
has indeed shifted over time, with a clear move from referring to hunted 
animals to the concept of fun and competition.