Walt “Clyde” Frazier Dictionary
Walt “Clyde” Frazier demonstrates amazingly creative use of the English language as a basketball commentator. You can witness his wizardry on New York Knicks telecasts. This is the definitive dictionary of Walt’s more colorful phrases.
If you hear Clyde use any new phrases that you think should be on this list, please comment or send me an e-mail so that I can update this list.
Frazier’s famous rhymes follow the dictionary.
A
adjacent – next to; adjoining
alluding – to refer casually or indirectly- As my partner was alluding to, the Knicks have been explosive
altruistic – showing unselfish concern for the welfare of others - A very altruistic Robinson here tonight – looking for his teammates
aroused – to stir up, excite – And the crowd at Madison Square Garden is aroused!
auspicious – marked by success - Marbury off to an auspicious beginning here tonight
B
baffling – to frustrate by confusing or perplexing; stymie - The Knicks defense is baffling the Hawks
bedevil – to torment mercilessly, to plague – It’s the little things that bedevil losing teams
beneficiary – one who receives a benefit - David Lee, the beneficiary of that pass by Gallo
blunder – A usually serious mistake typically caused by ignorance or confusion - Ratliff makes a blunder there by fouling Curry
C
continuity – flow, uninterrupted succession
D
diminutive – extremely small in size - Nate Robinson is diminutive at 5’9″
diligent – marked by painstaking effort - David Lee has been working diligently on his jump shot
E
egregious – conspicuously bad or offensive as in “an egregious blunder”
effervescent – lively, sparkling
I
impetus – stimulus, moving force - Wilson Chandler has been the impetus for this run
L
lackadaisical – lacking spirit or interest – Melo guilty of lackadaisical defense
N
neophyte – a beginner or novice - Two points there for the young neophyte
O
omnipotence – having unlimited power or authority
omnipresent – present in all places at the same time - There’s the omnipresent Lee with another rebound
overzealous – too enthusiastic, leading to a mistake - Douglas got overzealous on the fast break and Howard came away with it
P
penchant – a strong inclination – The Knicks have a penchant for turning the ball over late in the game.
percolate- active, lively, spirited
precocious – characterized by early maturity - The precocious rookie is playing well tonight.
prodigious – impressively great in size, force or extent – Amar’e is off to a prodigious start.
prolific – producing abundant works or results - Melo is off to a prolific start in the second half
prudent – wise in handling practical matters - The Knicks are doing the prudent thing featuring Randolph in the early going
Q
quantum - sudden and significant - Nate Robinson with a quantum leap to reject Yao!
R
rejuvenate – to restore to an original or new condition - A rejuvenated Marbury keeps the Knicks in the game
riveting – to engross or hold - The Knicks are playing riveting defense
S
serendipity – the faculty of making fortunate discoveries by accident - The ball comes off of Robinson’s leg and goes right to Crawford for three – a little serendipity right there
stupor – a state of mental numbness - The Knicks have a tendency to go into stupors
T
tenacious – holding or tending to hold persistently to something - The Knicks are playing tenacious ‘D’
tumultuous – noisy and disorderly - Nate Robinson has had a tumultuous night so far
U
uncanny - peculiarly unsettling as if supernatural in nature - Jason Terry is an uncanny shooter from three
Clyde Frazier Rhyme Time
Bounding and Astounding
Dancing and Prancing
Dishing and Swishing
Ewing Doing
Huffing and Stuffing
Hustling and Bustling
Loosey Goosey
Movin’ and Grovin’!
Nate the Great
Out-muscling and Out-hustling
Posting and Toasting
Shaking and Baking
Slicing and Dicing to the hoop!
Spinning and Winning
Stumbling and Bumbling
Styling and Profiling
Swooping and Hooping
Wheeling and Dealing
Will the Thrill
Winning and Grinning
Other Popular Phrases
Feline Quickness
Matador Defense
Swiss Cheese Defense
Shrewd, Clever, Slick
Add your favorite!
- November 14, 2007
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August 20, 2008 #
Forget the dictionary, explain Clyde’s suits.
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August 20th, 2008 at 9:50 pm
When he was a basketball player he bought all those flashy suits. They were fashionable back then. Something traumatic happened at a Men’s Wearhouse and he’s never been able to buy a new suit ever again.
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August 20th, 2008 at 9:52 pm
Clyde with a quantum leap from the 70′s
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March 29th, 2011 at 1:45 am
Overzealous
Douglas got overzealous on the fast break and Howard came away with it
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April 1st, 2011 at 9:49 pm
Add this phraze from Walt Frazier- The crowd is in a frenzy. Thanks
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April 29, 2009 #
Don’t forget “Spinning and Winning”
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November 13, 2009 #
Clyde uses the word “dubious” a lot as well.
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February 9th, 2011 at 10:24 pm
Neon defense
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December 1, 2009 #
Feline quickness
Styling & Profiling
Clyde the most annoying entertaining announcer of all time
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December 13th, 2010 at 1:13 pm
Hell Yeah.
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December 3, 2009 #
Hey, nicely done and very helpful. I just used this excellent resource for a post:
http://freeballinblog.com/basketball-commentary/best-way-to-rate-nba-telecasters/
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March 14, 2010 #
this one was said last night against the mavericks…. Winnin’ amd Grinnin’
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April 7, 2010 #
Stumblin’ and Bumblin’
Will the Thrill
Will the Kill
Also, my personal favorite Walt Clyde phraseology:
“They’re playing that Swiss Cheese defense!”
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April 9, 2010 #
April 9, 2010 -Knicks vs Magic: “Dwight Howard is huffing and stuffing”
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May 2, 2010 #
i love the swiss cheese defense but my favorite is….transition, swishin and dishin
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May 26, 2010 #
Don’t forget “nate the great” or “kryptonate”
Commom Clyde Comment: “There playing matador defense.”
Favorite Vocab Word: Asinine – “And that’s just an asinine foul by the Knicks to bail the opposition out.”
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June 30, 2010 #
“Loosey goosey.”
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September 5, 2010 #
Jamal Crawford, looking ubiquitous on the court. And he gets the fortuitious bounce for a bucket.
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October 20, 2010 #
these aren’t really funny, but he says them a lot. i never heard him say whacking and hacking until a few days ago during a pre season game
“Too much whacking and hacking and goes to the free throw line”
“The Knicks coming back in the forth quarter, but to no avail…”
“And David Lee, the beneficiary of that pass by Gallo.”
“The Lethargic Knicks aren’t showing any Continuity, relying too much on the three ball and not attacking the basket.”
“And the ambidextrous Lee, making the lay up with the other hand this time”
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October 21, 2010 #
Razzle & Dazzle!!!
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November 9, 2010 #
Porous D (defense). “The (team name)’s D is very porous right now.”
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November 26, 2010 #
What about Vorciferous?
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November 30, 2010 #
I think “stagnant” has to be on there, he uses that a lot to describe a lackluster offense.
Also he tags some of his rhymes with “a-long the baseline” (like: ‘Chandler, swooping and hooping, a-long the baseline’) real slow in that smooth Clyde style which is really unmatched.
And during Kevin Love’s 30-30 against us earlier he said we needed to “put a chilling on Love’s thrilling.”
Ok that’s all I got for now
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December 3, 2010 #
pugnacious
elusive
alluding
unravel
resilient
feasting (making a lot of shots from three)
provocative
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March 5th, 2011 at 6:15 pm
Hounding D (defense)
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December 5, 2010 #
Don’t forget lackadaisical
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December 7, 2010 #
sagacity, as in: Fields displaying tremendous tenacity to go along with his sagacity.
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December 9, 2010 #
razzle, dazzle, acrobatics was a phrase i remember him using
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December 9, 2010 #
The Nets are exacerbating their woes
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December 11, 2010 #
repertoire – my favorite
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December 13, 2010 #
“See the ball, see the man, He saw the ball, but did not see his man. ” is usually said when someone gets beat on a backdoor play.
“The knicks are in the penelty, They will pay for their transgressions.”
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December 13, 2010 #
Don’t forget the Clyde classic — “ill” used as an adverb, as in:
“With three minutes left in the game, the Pacers can ill afford to trade hoops.”
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December 14th, 2010 at 3:13 am
Lets not forget “Ill advised ”
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December 13, 2010 #
P.S. I cannot tell you how grateful I am, time and time again, to hear Clyde on TV or see him live at the announcer’s table at games. The man is a Knick Legend, some of us argue the greatest Knick ever. And he’s still with us, entertaining us day in and day out.
He’s managed to remake himself for a second part of his career and stay relevant to a new generation of fans who didn’t get to see his assists and steals first hand. Thanks, Clyde!
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December 13, 2010 #
“A very effervescent Gallinari. We haven’t see that in a while.”
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December 14, 2010 #
Don’t forget “He was not focused on that play. He was more hocus pocus than focus.”
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December 15, 2010 #
Intoxicating
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December 16, 2010 #
Mesmerizing
incoherent
spontaneity
When their is a loose ball on the floor for a long time and each team can’t get a handle on it, I have heard him say ” Ball of confusion”
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December 17, 2010 #
hacking and whacking has become a new clyde catch phrase. nice site
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December 18, 2010 #
Agility and hostility
All The Knicks have the Knack
Just in The Knick of time
Futility (” if they lose, they will have to look no further than their futility from the line” )
Duress ( “He made all his free throws so far, but now he’s under duress “)
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December 18, 2010 #
I remember him using “forte” alot when i was a kid. i.e “playing defense is not his forte”
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December 29, 2010 #
Tonight he said the cacophony of the crowd during the Heat game
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January 2, 2011 #
Denying and supplying
Penetrating and annaihilating
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January 22, 2011 #
need to add ‘dubious’
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January 31, 2011 #
Tonight vs Pistons.
Walt said “Felton with a provacative pass”
I don’t like Walt nor Tommy Heinsohn
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February 3, 2011 #
He calls short guys “Lilliputians” and he’s worked in “omnipotent” and “omnipresent” a lot of late.
I’m grateful to have watched/listened to him for 20 years now. Good to appreciate the legends while they’re living amongst us.
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February 3, 2011 #
Diving and Thriving
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February 16, 2011 #
Old school Clyde
“Jiving and Conniving”
Haven’t heard him drop that one in a while
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February 23, 2011 #
2/23/11 VS The Bucks: Words Used by Clyde during that game: orchastrating, perseverance, tenacity, gyrating, continuity, cohearence, pre-meditated, ironically, propelling, intrepid, sacraficial and prolific
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February 24th, 2011 at 1:27 am
Mentioned the “UBIQUITY” of young Toney tonight also lmao
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February 26, 2011 #
Vacillating ( As in vacillating pace )
Personified
Propensity
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February 28, 2011 #
Vs the Heat on 2/27:
Kung Fu Foul
Porous defense
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March 19, 2011 #
I think I heard him say, ” Perspiring and Expiring”. This was said on March 13, 2011 on the Knicks loss against the Pacers. This was in reference to the way the Knicks were struggling against the Pacers.
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March 25, 2011 #
“Mobile and Hostile” is my favorite, reminds me of myself on the court.
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March 29, 2011 #
He says “beneficiary” at least 5 time in the single game! (Douglas scores easy too, beneficiary of weak defense from the Pistons)
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March 30, 2011 #
And no Knick fan will ever forget the most over-used Clydeism of all time, “Ewing Doing”. Clydee is the best there is. Him and Breen doing a Knick game can make you forget about that turd that owns the team.
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April 3, 2011 #
[...] Clyde talks to the beat of his own vocabulary and style. If you don’t believe me, check out this listener-compiled dictionary of Clyde’s frequently used words and phrases. Or, better yet, listen to him in just one 30 second [...]
April 10, 2011 #
Knicks wuz shootin & lootin against the Nets!
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April 19, 2011 #
hurrying and worrying
using and abusing
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May 19, 2011 #
Heard him say “Exquisite” a bunch of times in a game this season. Sounded like he should be in a Kay jewelers commercial.
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June 7, 2011 #
How sweet it is!!!!!
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November 19, 2011 #
I love Clyde’s saying for when a player is on the sideline and catches the ball, but then steps back and accidentally goes out of bounds (let’s use Toney Douglas as an example):
Douglas: *accidentally steps out of bounds, turns ball over*
Clyde: The court, 50 feet wide, not wide enough for Toney on that play (cue Dr. Hibbert laugh – hee hee hee hee)
LOL
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December 5, 2011 #
What about “razzing and dazzling”
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January 4, 2012 #
Galvanize.
“The crowd was aroused by that ferocious block.”
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January 7, 2012 #
Hurrying and worrying… Hilarious
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January 8, 2012 #
Another superb one by Clyde last night, praising the Knicks’ play in their win over the hapless Pistons:
“Cohesion on the offense, Adhesion on the defense.”
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January 24, 2012 #
I love that this dictionary exists! I just heard Walt say “Splendor on the Glass” which is a spin on the movie “Splendor in the Grass” – brilliant Waltism. ( Knicks vs. Bobcats game )
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January 31, 2012 #
He’s number 1 in looting second in shooting
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