Chin Music

Chin music is a slang term with several different meanings.

American street slang[edit]

In American slang, chin music is a term for idle talk. It dates back at least a century – “There’s too much chin music an’ too little fightin’ in this war, anyhow” is a quote from Stephen Crane’s 1895 novel The Red Badge of Courage. It can alternatively be used as a euphemism for punching someone in the jaw.

Baseball[edit]

In baseball slang, it means a pitch that is thrown near the batter’s face. The pitcher‘s intent may be to cause the batter to move “back” such that it is more difficult to hit a future outside pitch, to frighten the batter into a poorer batting approach, to intimidate opposing batters, or to actually hit the batter with the pitch. If the umpire suspects the pitcher of either of the latter two intentions, he may eject the pitcher immediately or warn both teams that any similar pitch will result in automatic ejection. The pitcher’s manager may also be ejected or warned if the umpire believes the manager ordered the beanball.

In the late 1800s, at baseball’s inception, the phrase “chin music” was used to describe razzing or heckling from the fans. It began being used as a synonym for a brushback pitch around World War II.

Cricket[edit]

In cricket, chin music is a term for a bowling strategy where bouncers are aimed at the batsman’s throat or chin.^[1] Rising rapidly off the pitch, the ball is difficult to play unless the batsman has quick footwork. Better left alone, it yields a ballooned return catch to the bowler or to close-in fielders. This is a difficult ball to bowl, since a few inches on either side would present the batsman with a short ball that can be easily put away on either side of the pitch. It is not illegal in cricket, but the number of short deliveries allowed in an over is usually restricted, and bowlers who exceed this may get a warning from the umpire. This tactic was made famous by the England team in the controversial ‘Bodyline‘ Ashes series in 1932.

Music[edit]

Chin Music is the name of the 2004 album by New York City hardcore band Billy Club Sandwich.

Buck 65, performing as Stinkin’ Rich, released a cassette in 1993 called Chin Music.

Chin Music is also name of a Rock band from Southampton, UK [1].

Chin Music is also a track on Future of the Left‘s [2] 2009 release Travels With Myself and Another. [3]

“Chin Music” is also one of the Hong Kong Music Chart. [4]

“Chin Music” is also a song by The Baseball Project on their 2011 album Volume 2: High and Inside.

“Chin Music For the Unsuspecting Hero” is a song by Foster the People on their 2011 album Torches.

Publishing[edit]

Chin Music is the name of Seattle and Tokyo based independent publishers, Chin Music Press. [5]

ChinMusic! Magazine is the name of a San Francisco based baseball/rock n’ roll magazine. [6]

Chin Music is the title of a baseball novel for young readers written by Canadian author, Gregory David Roberts.

Chin Music is the title of a short story by Bram Stoker, from his collection Snowbound.

Wrestling[edit]

WWE superstar Shawn Michaels‘ finishing move is the Sweet Chin Music.

See also: Superkick

References[edit]

This article uses material from the Wikipedia article Chin Music, which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0.