Definitions

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun games A game without rules.

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Calvin +‎ ball. From a fictional game without rules, played in the comic strip Calvin and Hobbes.

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Examples

  • The #1 sport is Calvinball, which is just perfect, and I'm still cracking up over the inclusion of curling.

    Pop Culture Junk Mail 2008

  • J M McDermott: do we call it "Calvinball" and/or "उइद्दित्च"? we should if we don't...

    do we call it "Calvinball" and/or "उइद्दित्च"? we should if we don't... 2008

  • Sports of the future, of the magical alternate reality, and any other invented sort of sport in our stories that is sufficiently different from known sports as to require an "As You Know Bob" about the rules, the specialized equipment, and anything else particular to that particular speculative sport, shall forthwith be referred to as "Calvinball" is SciFi and "Quidditch" in Fantasy!

    Archive 2008-07-01 2008

  • Links to this post do we call it "Calvinball" and/or "उइद्दित्च"? we should if we don't...

    Archive 2008-07-01 2008

  • Sports of the future, of the magical alternate reality, and any other invented sort of sport in our stories that is sufficiently different from known sports as to require an "As You Know Bob" about the rules, the specialized equipment, and anything else particular to that particular speculative sport, shall forthwith be referred to as "Calvinball" is SciFi and "Quidditch" in Fantasy!

    do we call it "Calvinball" and/or "उइद्दित्च"? we should if we don't... 2008

  • I used to be a huge Calvin and Hobbes fan, and when a friend today reminded me of the old game of "Calvinball" I couldn't help drawing similarities to database and programming projects.

    SQLblog.com - The SQL Server blog spot on the web 2009

  • do we call it "Calvinball" and/or "उइद्दित्च"? we should if we don't...

    do we call it "Calvinball" and/or "उइद्दित्च"? we should if we don't... 2008

  • The Exception That Proves the Rule: Calvin, questioner and rule-breaker (and creator of the fabulous game Calvinball) was funny precisely because the Calvin Systems and the Adult Systems did not intersect well.

    Archive 2008-04-01 Heather McDougal 2008

  • The Exception That Proves the Rule: Calvin, questioner and rule-breaker (and creator of the fabulous game Calvinball) was funny precisely because the Calvin Systems and the Adult Systems did not intersect well.

    Counting Your Way to Safety Heather McDougal 2008

  • More homework on the left, and my congregation playing touch-footy/Calvinball.

    Canberra sketches 2010

  • The beloved comic strip Calvin and Hobbes introduced us to the concept of “Calvinball”—a sport in which the participants make up the rules as they go, never using the same rules twice.

    Conservatives Loved Expanding The 1st Amendment To Corporations… Until Last Year. Wonder Why? Mike Masnick 2022

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