Where did the Tennis Term \LOVE\ come from.?
Serious answer here copied and pasted from answer bag! The origins are not fully known, but one common explanation was that when the game was first being played back in medieval times, a clock face was used on court. The clock hand would move a quarter for each point. When the hand moved to sixty, the game was over. Therefore, the scoring would be love, 15, 30, 45, and 60 instead of the traditional 0, 1, 2, 3, and 4. Whoever scored 60 (4 points) first would win the game. However, instead of using “zero” the word “love” was used. Since, the word “love” comes from the French word l’oeuf, meaning egg which symbolizes nothing, it is assumed that “love” was used because it is represents zero. Another explanation for the use of the word “love” is because the egg looks like a zero. Eventually, the 45 was shortened to 40, and people quit saying 60 altogether. Interestingly, while the English mispronounced l’oeuf as love, the French eventually changed back to using zero, while the English kept
