As soon as I saw today’s word, I knew it was going to be a tough one to bag. With very little photo time and no chance of going anywhere that involved either heavy-lifting or leaping, I was struggling to think of a way to represent alley-oop, meaning: ‘”Get up!” “Go on!” Used to encourage or draw attention to the performance of an acrobatic or other physical feat, esp. one involving a leap or lift upwards’(OED). And then the inspiration came to me in a flash. How about pushing someone over (accidentally, of course – easy in this weather) and then picking them up with cries of ‘alley-oop’ as I did it. I skulked around the station until the perfect victim hove into view … but, of course, when push came to shove (pun absolutely intended), I couldn’t possibly do anything like that. So this is dedicated to the dear old soul in today’s pic, who probably doesn’t realise what a lucky escape she had. Incidentally, the etymology of alley-oop is completely French, and not – as some might suspect – Yorkshire.
Day #41 of a 365 project, where the daily pic is informed by the OED word of the day.