below the belt

Meaning of the phrase:

Origin of the phrase:

Boxing rules were first drafted by the bareknuckle boxer John “Jack” Broughton in 1743.  His original seven rules later expanded to twenty nine and became known as the London Prize Ring Rules. The first mention of a foul that occurred as a result of contact below the belt appeared in his first draft:

“That no person is to hit his Adversary when he is down, or seize him by the ham, the breeches, or any part below the waist a man on his knees to be reckoned down.”

These rules governed the sport for 100 years before being amended in 1838 and then 1853 to include:

“That a blow struck below the waistband shall be deemed foul, and that, in a close, seizing an antagonist below the waist, by the thigh, or otherwise, shall be deemed foul.”

Later, a boxing code drafted by John Graham Chambers and endorsed by John Douglas, 9^th Marquess of Queensbury, was published in 1867 as the Marquess of Queensbury Rules. The “below the belt” rule was maintained in this version which eventually made its way into the United States and Canada in 1889.

A very early reference to this expression’s figurative use as an act considered unfair, unjust, or underhanded, can be found in The Day Book, published on the 21^st of May, 1914:

“I think they hit below the belt when they played Lawrence for a sucker and worked him into taking the lead in the fight against unions, and worked the Hearst papers into the unfair list of the Chicago Federation of Labor.”