very random

[boooomer42]

hey all, i'm typing an expository paper for school, on a commonly used word or phrase that has many different meanings...

i decided to use the word "tilt" cause of what it has to do with poker and pinball and other stuff...

i was just wondering if anyone knew how the word "tilt" got associated with poker... i've been looking on google but can't find it anywhere... any help would be awesome

[a500lbgorilla]

I was actually thinking about where the world tilt comes from and how its applicapable to a lot of things like golf etc.

I thought with how clever poker players are, it's not a stretch to figure people related tilting in pinball to poker. But I have no idea of its origin.

-'rilla

[Tim Vecchioni]

the word tilt obviously comes from pinball...think how long ago pinball has been around...and the word tilt pops up on every machine if you shake it too hard...thad be my guess...

[sndp]

A quick googling for the etemology reveals this:
http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=tilt

O.E. *tyltan "to be unsteady," from tealt "unsteady," from P.Gmc. *taltaz (cf. O.N. tyllast "to trip," Swed. tulta "to waddle," Norw. tylta "to walk on tip-toe," M.Du. touteren "to swing"). Meaning "to cause to lean, tip, slope" (1594) is from sense of "push or fall over." Intrans. sense first recorded 1626. Meaning "condition of being tilted" is recorded from 1837.


Associating the idea of being physically moved and being emotionally moved is not too big of a stretch. DIgging through some etymology books may shed some more light on the actual connection to poker, as I'm sure you need something a bit more concrete than this. But if it were simply that when you're on tilt, you're shaky and not playing steadily... that would be enough for me personally. Good luck. Let us know if you find anything cool in there.