To keep a clean sheet

Posted by ESC on August 11, 2003

In Reply to: To keep a clean sheet posted by Lewis on August 11, 2003

: : Does anyone know the origin of this expression and how it became attached to sports?

: : Thanks in advance :)

: I think it comes from sports reporting in which the reporter uses a different piece of paper to record different events. If a team does not let in a goal, then there is a clean sheet of paper so far as the other team's "details of goals scored" is concerned.

There is a new use of the phrase "clean sheeting." Clean sheeting is a form of insurance fraud where someone solicits people who actually are terminally ill to apply for life insurance, either in amounts just below the limits for a medical exam, or by using the medical records of a healthy person. The life insurance policy is then sold (a viatical settlement) to a third party for a cash payment that is less than the full amount of the death benefit.