| Kenneth G. Wilson (1923–). The Columbia Guide to Standard American English. 1993. |
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| racket, racquet (nn.) |
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| A tennis racquet or racket is Standard in either spelling, but the game racquets, “a four-wall game something like court tennis,” is always spelled racquets in American English, rackets in British English. It is a plural form that takes a singular verb: He thinks racquets is as interesting as tennis. A second noun racket has several other meanings, including the Standard sense “noise or uproar,” as in Stop making all that racket; a Conversational and Informal word for “any scheme for obtaining money illegally,” as in He spent most of his adult life working in the rackets; and a related slang word meaning “a painless, effortless way to earn a living,” as in She’s got a real racket and never has to do a thing. | 1 |
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| | | The Columbia Guide to Standard American English. Copyright © 1993 Columbia University Press. |
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