What is the origin of the word "handicap"?

Search: handicap etymology

Why: People say "handi-capable" like it means... anything.

Answer: It comes from a lottery game called "hand-in-cap" that was popular in the 1600s! I don't really get it, but here are the rules:

To play hand-in-cap required three people; two players and a referee. The game began with all three putting forfeit money into a cap, with ownership of this kitty to be decided by the outcome of the game. Each of the two players would then offer up an item he thought the other guy might want. The referee would inspect the items and assign a monetary value to the difference between the worth of the two things, thereby more or less equalizing the transaction. He who offered the lesser-valued item also had to pony up with the amount decreed by the referee.

Once this appraisal was completed, the two players would reach into their pockets to either draw out loose change or not, depending on whether they were happy with the proposed swap. (This change did not become part of the transaction over and above the appraisal fee; it was merely symbolic). If both drew out coins, the exchange was effected, and the referee took the forfeit money for himself. If neither drew out coins, the referee again took the forfeit money, though the exchange was no made. But if only one drew out coins, he was entitled to the forfeit money, even though the again the exchange was not made.

Eventually, "hand-in-cap" (or "hand i'cap" or "handicap") came to refer not just to the barter game, but to any action that worked to make a contest more equitable. In the original game, the owner of the less valuable item put up pocket money to make both sides of the proposed transaction more balanced. In sports, it worked the other way: the strong (faster horse [1754] or faster runner) was brought down to meet the weak.

Lolwut

Thus, "handicapping" became a term for leveling out the playing field by making stronger contestants bear a penalty. From here, it went from an "imposed impediment" to just an "impediment" [1883] or a "physical limitation" [1915].

It does not come from disabled people coming "cap in hand" to the King to beg for their lives.

Source: Snopes

The More You Know: I bet you can figure out where "referee" comes from, but do you remember the story of the umpire?