Etymology: heel

I'm taking Ethnographic Research this semester and have chosen the Inspirational Championship Wrestling Association as my topic of research. After this past Friday's match, I had the pleasure of interviewing a life-long professional wrestler, whom I'll refer to as Jackie (that is not his character name).

Jackie has a lot to say on the differences between "the old days" and the current form of wrestling. I was lucky to hear Jackie's interpretation of the art of wrestling, one that is more showmanship than mere athleticism. According to Jackie, very few of today's wrestlers manage to "stay in character" during matches or while exiting the ring, something that would have gotten a man fired back when Jackie started out. Indeed, the characters seem to be the magic behind the spectacle.

According to Jackie there are "heels" and there are "faces" or "babies". The former referring to "bad guys" and the latter implying "good guys." As Jackie explained to me, if the heel is not bad enough then there is no fun in watching him lose, nor is there any fun in watching the baby beat him. Establishing a believable through line of aggression, revenge, and retaliation is what Jackie tells me is the best, the only real, way to keep fans coming back.

When I asked him where redemption lies in the heel's story, or if it was even a possibility, he replied that it would be climactic and would need to bring in a big enough crowd to make the end of the story arc legitimate.

Listening to Jackie, who plays a heel in the ring, I began wondering about the origin of the term...hence this etymology.

Heel can mean the back of someone's foot.
Heel can mean to sit, as in "Heel Fido!"

But in the informal sense heel is a synonym for these nouns:
scoundrel, rogue, rascal, reprobate, miscreant, beast, rat, louse, swine, snake, scumbag, scumbucket, scuzzball, sleazeball, sleazebag, and stinker...to name a few.

The negative connotations of the word may have started brewing way back in the 16th century when the verb "to heel" meant "to be tilted temporarily by the pressure of the wind or by an uneven distribution of the weight on board." My dad, a former sailor, tells me that such a situation is "baaaaad djoodjoo"... and yes, he is superstitious.

If we think of people as generally good and bad, what does it mean when they lean to far in either direction? What does it mean when they list, when they heel, too far down? Indeed, Jackie's description of the heel is that of a character who has clearly gone over to one side (dare I say "the dark side"?), but who may still be turned - set to rights. Just as the wrestling heel's reformation must be amazing enough for a story climax, a boat's restored balance is the result of some very impressive maneuvering by captain and crew.

It may be interesting to note that Jackie worked in the carnival circuit during his traveling days. I was told that this was not uncommon and that many other wrestlers spent their off-seasons at the carnivals. That said, it could be enlightening to know how the good guy/bad guy dynamic functions in the sideshow arena, and if it's similar, if the same trade lingo applies.